Picture Credit: Twitter
In a recent development, the ongoing season of I-League has been impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak as reportedly around 10 people (7 players) have tested positive for Coronavirus inside the bio-bubble. In an official tweet, the league confirmed that they are monitoring the situation very closely.
Although the tournament has not yet been suspended, an emergency meeting has been called up on Wednesday evening which is when the matter will be discussed and the tournament's fate will be decided.
"Five players and three officials from Real Kashmir and at least one player each from Mohammedan Sporting and Sreenidi Deccan FC are among those positive cases. I-League is not yet suspended and we will take a decision in the emergency meeting of the league committee at 4pm today." a top league source told PTI.
Latest update on the emergency meeting
An planned, the emergency meeting was conducted via video conferencing which also had Dr. Harsh Mahajan, a Padma Shri and a member of the AIFF Sports Medical Committee. Notably, the medical expert informed all the members that there needs to be bare minimum contact among all for the next 5-7 days to prevent the spread of virus.
"Acting on the advice, the Committee hence, unanimously decided to postpone the Hero I-League 2021-22 matches for the next round which were scheduled on December 30-31, 2021. All players, staff, and referees have already been tested today, and will be tested again on January 1 and January 3, 2022 respectively. 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," stated an official statement.