Covid-19: Olunga's Kashiwa Reysol set date for return to training
Kashiwa Reysol's Michael Olunga in action against FC Tokyo during their Japanese League match at the Ajinomoto stadium on October 28, 2020.
What you need to know:
- Olunga was also ruled out of Kenya’s back-to-back 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Group “G” qualifying matches against Comoros slated for November 11 and November 15. Kenya drew 1-1 draw against the Islanders in Nairobi on Wednesday.
- Jacob ‘Ghost’ Mulee’s side is scheduled to travel to the Indian Ocean Island on Friday.
Michael Olunga’s Kashiwa Reysol is set to resume training on November 18.
Kashiwa are expected to play its first match after the coronavirus-enforced break on November 21 against 15th-ranked Sagan Tosu. The match will be held at Kashiwa’s backyard.
Kashiwa were forced to cancel all activities on November 3 and closed their training grounds as well as football academy, citing a large-scale coronavirus infections.
On November 4, the club announced it was heading into quarantine in a hotel in Chiba Prefecture for 10 days.
The club's Brazilian coach Nelsinho Baptista was on the list of 15 cases of coronavirus infections confirmed in Kashiwa’s camp.
“Practice will resume on the 18th!!!” the club announced on Monday via Twitter before adding that “Nelsinho is likely to come back."
Kashiwa’s last match before the pandemic struck its camp was on October 31 against Shimizu S-Pulse at Hitachi Kashiwa Stadium. It ended 0-0.
Olunga was left out of the match-day squad completely. He last took to the field on October 28 when Kashiwa hammered hosts FC Tokyo 3-1 in a match he contributed two assists in the second half for Brazilian Cristiano.
The Kenyan centre-forward tops the scoring charts with 23 goals, his closest rival Everaldo has scored 14 goals for sixth-placed Kashima Antlers.
Kashiwa occupy position 10 with 41 points from 26 matches in the 18-team league. Their league matches against Vegalta Sendai (November 3 and Oita Trinita (November 14) as well as Levain Cup final against FC Tokyo (November 7) were postponed due to the cases of coronavirus. The Levain Cup final is now slated for January 4, 2021.
Olunga was also ruled out of Kenya’s back-to-back 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Group “G” qualifying matches against Comoros slated for November 11 and November 15. Kenya drew 1-1 draw against the Islanders in Nairobi on Wednesday. Jacob ‘Ghost’ Mulee’s side is scheduled to travel to the Indian Ocean Island on Friday.
