Absa Premiership giants Kaizer Chiefs have confirmed that Wiseman Meyiwa has been forced to call time on his football career following a serious car accident last year.

“We are very disheartened that Wiseman’s promising career had to come to an end so abruptly when he still had so much to offer,” said chairperson Kaizer Motaung as quoted by the club’s website.

“This is the first time that we’ve ever had to deal with this situation in as far as players go, but we are doing our best to ensure that we give Wiseman all the support and care he needs.

“We are shattered because he is very young, everyone had high hopes of him and his family expected a lot from his football career. Yet, in the same breath we are grateful that his life has been spared.”

The accident occurred on Saturday, November 3 on the N3 highway near Villiers in the Free State while Meyiwa was on his way to Pietermaritzburg to visit his family.

He has since been in a wheelchair while undergoing intensive therapy.

According to Kaizer Chiefs team doctor, Hashendra Ramjee, the 19-year-old sustained various injuries including an unstable fracture of his thoracic vertebrae with spinal cord injury.

“The thoracic vertebrae fracture was surgically repaired and he was transferred to Netcare Rehabilitation Hospital for further management. Wiseman has a permanent disability with a T6 paraplegia,” he explains.

Since the accident, the club has continued to give him all the necessary support.

“His treatment is currently being optimised to allow him to manage his disability,” Dr Ramjee adds.

The talented midfielder left his home in KZN at the age of 14 to join the Kaizer Chiefs Youth Development Academy in 2014. He was promoted to the senior squad at the start of the 2017/18 season and capped his debut against Cape Town City on 13 September 2017 with one of the goals in a 2-0 win. He played 21 games for Amakhosi.

On the international stage he represented South Africa at both the Under-17 and Under-20 World Cup tournaments in 2015 (Chile) and 2017 (South Korea) respectively.

Football Manager, Bobby Motaung echoed the chairperson’s sentiments, saying, “The club will endeavour to give Wiseman and his family all the support he needs, including trauma counselling – emotional and psychological.

“We will also assist with educational support to ensure he is self-sufficient in the future. We will also put proper support systems in place to make sure his home-based care is as comfortable as possible.”

“We are also working closely with his team-mates to ensure that they are able to deal with the shock,” added Bobby Motaung.