KOLKATA: The
All India Football Federation
had been working on a plan to commence this season's
I-League
in the final week of next month, tentatively on November 28.
However, it was reliably learnt that a few I-League clubs --- during an online meeting with top officials of the parent body on Saturday --- requested for the start of the league to be pushed back. That is mostly because, owing to the outbreak of the
Covid-19
pandemic, the teams are yet to start their pre-season training.
Thus, the
AIFF
will now further discuss the issue internally and with the clubs before reaching a consensus on when to begin the league.
The I-League will be held in
Bengal
after the
Indian Football Association
was granted the hosting rights.
Whenever the league starts, it will be played with the teams in a bio-bubble --- like the I-League qualifiers which will be played this month --- with health and safety guidelines strictly adhered to.
The protocols and standard operating procedure (SOP) were discussed with the clubs during the course of the meeting. The SOP will have the same framework as that of the I-League qualifiers but will have some changes because the duration of the I-League is much longer.
While the teams for the I-League qualifiers had to produce two Covid-19 negative results of their contingent before they could enter the bio-bubble, the I-League teams will have to produce three negative results.
The teams will be put up in three hotels while the match officials will be accommodated in a separate one.
Meanwhile, the aspect of visas for the foreign players was also discussed in the meeting and sources informed that the AIFF officials told the clubs to send them a list of countries from where they are looking to recruit their foreigners so that the AIFF can look into the matter.
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