Football
PTI 2y

I-League suspended after 8 players test positive for COVID-19

The I-League was suspended for at least a week after COVID-19 breached its bio-bubble as eight players and three officials tested positive.

Five players and three team officials from Real Kashmir FC, one player each from Mohammedan Sporting, debutants Sreenidi Deccan FC and Aizawl FC returned positive in the tests conducted on Tuesday.

"The next round of matches (on December 30 and 31) will be rescheduled. We will review the situation on January 4," I-League Chairman Subrata Dutta told PTI after an emergency meeting. The first round matches were played on Sunday and Monday while the third round games are scheduled for January 4 and 5.

Sreenidi, Mohammedan Sporting, NEROCA and Aizawl FC have matches scheduled for Thursday while RKFC have a game on Friday. All these second-round matches will now be played later.

No matches were scheduled for Wednesday.

According to All India Football Federation (AIFF) sources, the matches on January 4 are unlikely to be played but there is a possibility that January 5 games will be held if no further positive cases emerge.

All the players who have tested positive have already been isolated with AIFF monitoring and arranging for subsequent regular medical consultations, an I-League statement said. The outbreak happened at the Novotel Hotel, one of the three bio-bubbles, set up by the organisers for the football League that began on Sunday. Besides RKFC, Sreenidi Deccan and Mohammedan Sporting, the three other teams staying at the Novotel Hotel are Rajasthan United, Aizawl FC and NEROCA.

Dutta chaired the emergency virtual meeting of the League Committee to take a decision on continuation or suspension of the league.

"The Committee unanimously decided to postpone the Hero I-League 2021-22 matches for the next round which were scheduled on December 30-31, 2021," the league statement said.

"The League will review the situation once all test results come in on January 4, 2022, and reach a consensus thereafter including the next round matches on Jan 4-5." It said all the players, staff and referees have been tested on Wednesday. They will be tested again on January 1 and 3.

The I-League Committee said it took into serious consideration the advice of Dr Harsh Mahajan, a member of the AIFF Sports Medical Committee, "to adhere to medical parameters and move forward together without making any compromise on the health of the players which is of paramount importance." "Dr. Mahajan, informed that there needs to be bare minimum contact among all for the next 5-7 days as studies indicate that both the Delta and Omicron variant can be passed onto other human bodies within the period." Earlier in the day, I-League CEO Sunando Dhar had confirmed the COVID outbreak and said that the safety of the players and officials were of paramount importance.

Thirteen teams are competing in this year's I-League across three venues -- the Mohun Bagan Ground in Kolkata, the Kalyani Stadium at Kalyani and the Naihati Stadium at Naihati. Last season's I-League, which was competed by 11 teams, was also held under bio-secure environment in Kolkata and Kalyani, and six COVID-19 cases were reported then.

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