Bayer Leverkusen forward Victor Boniface has been ruled out of the club’s visit to Brest in the Champions League having been injured in a car accident over the weekend.
Boniface, 23, was a passenger in a car driven by a friend when, shortly after 7am on Sunday, according to a report published by the Hessen State Police, it struck a lorry. Boniface had been on his way to Frankfurt Airport to meet friends.
“A 28-year-old was driving a Mercedes in the middle of three lanes in the direction of Frankfurt when, according to his own account, he lost control of the vehicle due to fatigue and collided sideways with a truck that was driving in the right lane next to the Mercedes,” said the report published by the Hessen State Police.
Nobody was seriously hurt in the accident and Boniface posted footage of the aftermath on his Instagram account. He suffered cuts to his left arm and missed Leverkusen’s training sessions on Monday and Tuesday, before being left out of the squad which travelled to France.
Simon Rolfes, Leverkusen’s managing director for sport, told Bild that Boniface is recovering, revealing also that neither the driver of the lorry nor Boniface’s friend was hurt in the accident.
“First of all, I was relieved that nothing happened to him, nor to his friend, nor to any third party. That is always the most important thing, that he came out of it safely. But of course, you never want to find yourself in situations like that,” Rolfes said.
“Of course, this was no small accident. That’s why we always have to be cautious and evaluate how he is doing every day. Fortunately, it didn’t turn out to be serious.”
Boniface has scored seven goals in ten appearances for Leverkusen this season, netting five times in seven Bundesliga games.
The striker scored in the German side’s 2-1 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday, the day before the accident.
Earlier this month, Boniface was part of the Nigeria squad that were stranded at an airport in Libya for 12 hours ahead of their Africa Cup of Nations qualifier.
Leverkusen have won both their Champions League games so far, beating Feyenoord and AC Milan on the first two matchdays. It is unclear whether Boniface will be available to face Werder Bremen in the Bundesliga at the weekend.
(Oliver Kaelke/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)
