Kolkata: I-League on Wednesday was suspended for at least a week after Covid-19 violated the bio-bio-bubbles as eight players and three officials had tested the feared positive virus.
Five players and three officials from Kashmir FC real, one of their respective players from Mohammedan Sporting, debutant Sreenidi DECCAN FC and Aizawl FC returned positively in the test conducted on Tuesday.
“The next match round (on December 30 and 31) will be rescheduled.
We will review the situation on January 4,” said Chairman of the I-League Subrata Dutta to PTI after an emergency meeting.
The first round match was played on Sunday and Monday while the third round match was scheduled for January 4 and 5.
Sreenidi, Mohamdi Sporting, Neroca and Aizawl FC had scheduled matches for Thursday while RKFC had a game on Friday.
All of these second round matches will now be played later.
There is no match scheduled for Wednesday.
According to all sources of the Indian Football Federation (AIFF), the match on January 4 cannot be played but it is possible that January 5 games will be held if no further positive case appears.
All players who have been positively tested have been isolated by monitoring AIFF and regulates the next regular medical consultation, said an I-League statement.
The outbreak took place at Novotel Hotel, one of three bio-bubbles, was founded by the committee for the soccer league that began on Sunday.
Besides RKFC, Sreenidi DECCAN and Mohammedan Sporting, three other teams staying at Novotel Hotel are Rajasthan United, Aizawl FC and Neroca.
Dutta leads the emergency virtual meeting of the league committee to make decisions about the continuation or suspension of the league.
“The committee with a round voice decided to postpone the 2021-22 I-League hero match for the next round scheduled for December 30-31, 2021,” said the league statement.
“The league will review the situation after all the results of the entrance test on January 4, 2022, and reach the consensus afterwards, including the next round match on January 4-5.” It was said all players, staff and referees had been tested on Wednesday.
They will be tested again on January 1 and 3.
The I-League committee said seriously considering the advice of Dr.
Harsh Mahajan, a member of the AIFF Sports Medical Committee, “to comply with medical parameters and move forward together without making each compromise about the health of players who are very important.” “Dr.
Mahajan, notifies that there needs to be a minimum contact between all for the next 5-7 days as a study show that the Delta and Omicron variants can be forwarded to other human bodies in that period.” Previously on that day, the CEO of I-League Sunando Dhar had confirmed the Covid outbreak and said that the safety of the players and officials was very important.
Thirteen teams competed in I-League this year in three places – The Mohun Bagan Ground in Kolkata, Kalyani Stadium in Kalyani and Naihati Stadium in Naihati.
RKFC owner Sandeep Chattoo admitted that some of his team players had been tested positively, even though he did not share how much and who.
“Yes, RKFC also has several positive cases, players from all (six) suspected teams (from Covid-19),” he said.
“There was one test round on December 21 and all my players were negative.
This latest test was conducted yesterday.” All players and officials were asked to stay in quarantine for six days at their respective hotels after arrival from there.
They will be tested twice for six days.
In accordance with the protocol placed for the league, anyone who tests positively isolated on various hotel floors and must have three consecutive negative test results before joining a teammate.
Dhar previously said that all players who took part in the I-League must be fully vaccinated except for U-18 players and those who recovered from Covid-19 infection.
The U-18 players and those who have not received Jab because of recovery of Covid-19 recently had to undergo more frequent testing during tournaments rather than vaccinated players.
“If the player who is fully vaccinated is undergoing a test for every 5-6 days, they (U-18 players and new players recovered) will be tested every 3-4 days,” he said.
Last season, I-League, which was contested with 11 teams, was also held under a bio-safe environment in Kolkata and Kalyani, and six Covid-19 cases reported.