Gasogi United new head coach Caroline Pizzala will not be on the touchline during Friday's opening league match against Rayon Sports at Kigali Pele Stadium, Times Sport has established.

READ ALSO: Meet Caroline Pizzala, the first woman to coach a Rwandan topflight team

The French gaffer was appointed Gasogi new coach in early July and was expected to join the team on July 15, an appointment that will see her becoming the first woman to coach a Rwandan club in the men’s topflight league.

However, the coaching courses that she has been attending in Europe have delayed her arrival at the club which she could join in early September.

"Yes, she won&039;t coach Friday's match [against Rayon Sports]. She will miss a couple of matches, probably the first four games. She will start her job a bit late because she wants to first finish her License A UEFA Pro coaching courses," a reliable source told Times Sport.

Club assistant coach Alain Kirasa is expected to take charge of the team in Pizzala's absence.

READ ALSO: KNC’s Gasogi eager to ‘hurt’ Rayon in league opener

But, even without Pizzala on the touchline, club president and proprietor Charles Kakooza Nkuriza, commonly known as KNC, remains confident that his team will at any cost take all three points away from the Blues with a win that he wants to dedicate to club rivals Kiyovu and APR FC.

"I invite all Kiyovu and APR fans to attend this match because we are going to do revenge for them. They (Rayon Sports fans) will leave the stadium angry like APR’s were after the Super Cup final,” KNC told journalists during a pre-match press conference on Wednesday.

"It is going to be 4-2 [in favor of Gasogi] , keep my word,” the TV/Radio1 boss predicted.

Gasogi and Rayon Sports met eight times since 2019 with Blues recording the most wins (four) and Gasogi won once on December 23, 2022 while they drew three times.