Kahata 'would love to travel to Tanzania soon and join Simba SC teammates'

Simba SC attacking midfielder Francis Kahata is continuing with his individual training in Kenya away from his teammates, who have already started joint training.

Kahata travelled to the country immediately after the Mainland Premier League was suspended in April, and has not been able to go back to Tanzania due to the prevailing travel restrictions placed by the Kenyan government.

Kenya President Uhuru Kenyatta ordered the closure of the border between Kenya and Tanzania as one of the strict measures to help contain the coronavirus.

“I am continuing with my individual training at home and I follow the guidelines given by the coach by 80%. I would love to travel to Tanzania soon but the problem is the travel restriction placed between the Kenyan and Tanzanian borders,” Kahata told Simba SC's official portal.

“We are simply not allowed to travel.”

Simba started their joint training at Mo Simba Arena at Bunju in Dar es Salaam under coach Sven Vandenbroeck.

Kahata was among the foreign players who left when the league was halted, alongside Sharaf Shiboub of South Sudan, Zambia's Clatous Chama and Meddie Kagere of Rwanda.

Kagere has already joined the rest awaiting the restart of the league as resumption date has been announced as June 13.

Kahata, Shiboub and Chama may miss the first games if they have joined their teammates by then.

Meanwhile, physical fitness coach Adel Zrane has been charged with overseeing the first phase of training by Simba players who have been out for two months.

The Tunisian coach has been seen taking the players through intensive training sessions that the club describes as an important move to help them regain their physical fitness.

“They are doing those intensive physical exercises longer than match minutes and under Zrane. The coach [Vandenbroeck] cannot be in charge of such duties because they are more technical in nature,” Simba's Team Manager Patrick Rweyemamu told Mwanaspoti.

Simba are awaiting the Tanzanian Football Federation (TFF) and the Premier League Board (TPLB) to come up with fixtures and dates for the remaining 10 matches in order to restart their title defence.

They are leading with 71 points ahead of Azam FC, second with 54 points, and both have played 28 matches already.