In the wake of the Omicron mutant virus, the Indian soccer community held an emergency meeting on the evening of January 3, where the Football Federation of India (FFI) and I-League clubs reached a consensus, and the following day released a major announcement: the 2021-22 season of the Indian Professional League will be suspended for six weeks. The move raises concerns about whether the 20th edition of the Women's Asian Cup, which was scheduled to start on January 20, will be able to kick off as scheduled.
On January 3, the Indian health department announced 33,750 new cases of new coronary pneumonia and 123 deaths across the country, of which 1,700 cases of the Omicron variant have been accumulated. In view of the Omicron virus may lead to a surge in infected cases, threatening the health and lives of players and officials, the Indian Football Association first vice president Subrata Dutta held an emergency video conference on the afternoon of the 3rd, where representatives of the clubs unanimously agreed to the Federation's proposal of a six-week suspension of the league and then restarted the program.
The proposal was put forward by Harsh Mahajan, a member of the Sports Medicine Committee of the Football Association, who elaborated on the background and reasons for the proposed extension in the meeting. In view of the surge in confirmed cases across the country, the West Bengal government has issued a restraining order and other states are expected to follow suit. In order to avoid risking the players and officials, the Football Association made a proposal to suspend the league for six weeks, which was unanimously supported by the delegates at the meeting.
It is reported that the league committee will convene another video conference on January 31, according to the development of the epidemic to decide on follow-up measures. At the same time, the clubs are required to continue to implement the "bubble closed", players, coaches and staff until January 7 to continue to closed management, and January 5 for the full test. The test results are negative before returning to the original club location. [Note: The 2021-22 season of the Indian Professional League started on November 19 last year, with 11 teams playing in three stadiums in Goa, and 49 matches have been completed as of January 4.]
The Indian Football Federation's decision to suspend the domestic league has sparked fears that the 20th edition of the Women's Asian Cup, to be held in India on January 20, will go ahead as planned. According to India's plan, the Asian Cup will be held in the three cities of Mumbai, New Mumbai and Pune in the state of Maharashtra. The AFC has asked the participating teams to be closed and fans are not allowed to watch the matches at the venue. However, with the suspension of the country's top league, will the Asian Cup go ahead as planned? As of now, neither the Indian side nor the AFC has given a clear answer.
