Olunga’s Kashiwa Reysol set to resume 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:
- Kawasaki Frontale leads the way with 69 points from 27 matches. Next is Gamba Osaka (55 points) from 28 matches and Nagoya Grampus close the top-three bracket with 52 points from 29 matches.
- Meanwhile, J1 League has announced reintroduction of the video assistant referee in games for 2021 and 2022 seasons after postponing the use of the technology in the middle of 2020 season.
Michael Olunga’s Kashiwa Reysol seem all set to resume training on Wednesday after the latest round of coronavirus testing revealed a huge reduction in the number of positive cases in the camp.
The Japanese top-tier side says it conducted a Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test on 36 players, 20 top team staff, 14 front office staff, 16 academy staff and 28 other related parties on Monday.
“112 people returned negative tests. The result of the remaining two people is a case that has already received a positive diagnosis,” said the club, while explaining that the two are those for which a negative test was not finally obtained by the official test (samples that cannot be tested, test results with a high possibility of being positive).
Two weeks ago, Kashiwa postponed all its activities after the number of coronavirus cases in its camp shot from one on November 2 to around 14 cases on November 4 forcing it to postpone all its activities and the first team went into quarantine for 10 days in a hotel in Chiba Prefecture.
Matches pitting Kashiwa against Vegalta Sendai on November 3 and Oita Trinita on November 14 (league) and FC Tokyo on November 7 (Levain Cup final) were also pushed to later dates. Kashiwa will now face Vegalta Sendai on December 1 at Yurtec Stadium Sendai, Oita Trinita on December 9 at Sankyo Frontier and FC Tokyo on January 4, 2021.
The quarantine period ends Tuesday next week. Brazilian coach Nelsinho Baptista was on the list of 16 coronavirus positive cases reported in Kashiwa’s camp. He was hospitalised, but has improved a lot.
Reports indicate Nelsinho could be on the touchline when Kashiwa returns to action since October 31 on November 21 by hosting Sagan Tosu.
Kenyan international striker Olunga leads the race to become J1 League top scorer in 2020. The 26-year-old has netted 23 goals in 24 league matches he has featured in this season.
His closest rival is Brazilian Everaldo who has scored 15 times for Kashima Antlers. Kashiwa is ranked 10th in the 18-team league after amassing 41 points from 26 matches. Sagan occupies position 15 with 26 points from 27 matches.
Kawasaki Frontale leads the way with 69 points from 27 matches. Next is Gamba Osaka (55 points) from 28 matches and Nagoya Grampus close the top-three bracket with 52 points from 29 matches.
Meanwhile, J1 League has announced reintroduction of the video assistant referee in games for 2021 and 2022 seasons after postponing the use of the technology in the middle of 2020 season.
