Bar on Anwar Ali would be a loss for India: Yan Law

KOLKATA: Mohammedan Sporting Club (MSC) head coach Yan Law hailed young defender

Anwar

Ali as a 'special talent' and hoped the 20-year-old gets the clearance from AIFF to play in the forthcoming

I-League

qualifiers.


The youngster, who played every minute of India's campaign in the Fifa U-17 World Cup 2017, has a congenital heart condition, and is awaiting a report from AIFF medical committee about his future.

"He (Anwar) is one of the top quality Indian defenders right now and is a special talent. At this young age he is proving so much on the field, this shows what he has in store for the future. I feel that he has the ability in him to play for Indian national team in a year or two," Law told TOI.

"I really hope he is allowed to play. If he is not given permission, it will be a big loss for the national team as well. If he is not available for us, we will then have to look for other options," the former

Punjab FC

coach added.

All MSC players, support staff test negative

Meanwhile, all 30 MSC players and the support staff tested negative for Covid-19, the club said on Sunday. Prior to I-League qualifiers starting next month, all five participating teams need to carry out the RT-PCR test (Gold-standard test) twice for each member of the contingent. The second round of testing will be on Wednesday.

The tournament, which will be staged at the Salt Lake Stadium and Kalyani Stadium from October 8, will be the first competitive sporting action in the country since the outbreak of Covid-19.