AIFF acted instantly to curb Covid spread and suspend I-League, says Dr Mahajan
Feb 22, 2022
New Delhi [India], February 22 : Padma Shri Dr Harsh Mahajan was a special invitee at the AIFF League Committee Meetings which were held on December 29, 2021, and January 3, 2022, wherein it was decided to temporarily suspend the ongoing I-League due to rising Covid cases.
Based on his advice, the I-League is set to resume on March 3, 2022, with Sreenidhi Deccan FC and TRAU squaring off in the first match.
"In one cluster (one hotel), about 40 of the players were infected and a few players in the other clusters as well. By that time, it was clear that the others may get infected as well because players were mixing within the cluster. Overall, in the country and in Kolkata itself, there was an increase in cases and also government mandates were due to come in," said Dr Harsh Mahajan, as per an official AIFF release.
"So, keeping in mind the welfare of the players, the coaching staff and the other ancillary staff, we decided that it would not be right to continue operating and a decision was taken to suspend the league temporarily and postpone it for 6-8 weeks. Four weeks down the line, there was going to be a re-assessment as to what the situation would be like and then take a call on whether we could restart and that's exactly what we followed," he added.
Dr Mahajan further said that AIFF's decision to suspend the I-League helped in decreasing the number of COVID-19 positive cases in the camp.
"Yes, I must say that the AIFF acted not only quickly, but instantly. A decision was taken, the league was suspended, the players and the teams were sent home and they were also told to maintain Covid-appropriate behaviour. Just as we had planned, the second meeting was held four weeks down the line and during that, we realised that our projection of 6-8 weeks appeared to be correct and that in this variant which actually spread very quickly, the numbers also went down very quickly," said Dr Mahajan.
"If we look at the advisory of the Health Ministry, the states have been asked to open up and I think we are in the right position to do so in a graded manner. The players will enter the bio bubble on February 20, 2022, and be quarantined in their rooms for 7 days. During this time, they will be tested on Day 1, Day 4, and Day 7 with RT-PCR and only after the third test comes back negative, can they start training," he added.
