The third wave of the coronavirus pandemic in India has taken a toll on the ongoing Indian Super League season, as ATK Mohun Bagan have seen yet another game of theirs deferred due to Covid-19 cases within the bio-secure bubble. It was ATKMB’s second successive match that was postponed, as their game against Odisha FC was also pushed before Saturday’s scrapped encounter against Bengaluru FC.
An official of an ISL team claimed that Covid-19 had hit their support staff hard, as they were left with no one to even prepare food for the team. Until Saturday morning, no player or support staff official was infected with the virus, but cases amongst the families of the players, hotel staff and other non-sporting officials of the team meant that the players and the support staff were forced into hard quarantine as per the league rules.
It now seems doubtful if the team would be able to play their game scheduled for the midweek amidst the cases, but there has not been any official clarification regarding the matter. Training has also been suspended, similar to the situation at ATKMB and Bengaluru FC, who have also not trained in quite some time owing to the rising Covid cases within their sides.
New SC East Bengal coach Mario Rivera, who joined the team after the Jamshedpur game following a 14-day hard quarantine, has again been pushed back into isolation following some infections at the club. On Saturday, it was reported that the ISL-appointed phlebotomist also tested positive for the virus. It is also known that FC Goa and Odisha FC have some positive cases in their camps as well.
FC Goa bore the brunt of the pandemic as they played their previous game with nine members of the squad out due to Covid-19, which triggered an angry response from skipper Edu Bedia, who slammed the ISL rules, claiming that the manner in which their last game took place was unfair, in what he termed, ‘adulterated competition’.
“Players are losing interest and the desire to continue competing. They continue to play to collect their contracts without any ambition.
This is what has been achieved with this year’s rules. Whether you like it or not, all the people inside the bio-bubble just want March to come and the league to end, whatever the outcome.”
Bedia wrote on Instagram.
FC Goa coach Derrick Pereira was also not impressed, and revealed that they had to make last-minute changes on their way to the stadium.
The league has been quite mum about the situation, only announcing the postponement of the ATK Mohun Bagan – Bengaluru FC match barely hours before kick-off. However, it is believed that an emergency meeting has been called to review the situation, which seems to be worsening.
