India announces the suspension of the league due to the epidemic Is the Women's Asian Cup held as scheduled?

Source: Sports Weekly

Affected by the Omiljung mutation virus, the Indian Football Federation and all participating clubs of the Indian Professional League (I-League) reached an agreement on the evening of January 3, and officially announced on January 4 that the 2021-22 Indian Professional League will be suspended for six weeks. The move raises concerns about India's upcoming 20th Women's Asian Cup, which will be held on January 20.

On January 3, the Indian health department reported 33,750 cases of COVID-19 and 123 deaths across India, of which the total number of rapidly transmitting Omi clone variants has reached 1,700. Worried that the Omi clone virus will lead to a continued surge in new infection cases, which will affect the health and even life safety of football players, the league committee under the Indian Football Association was held by the first vice chairman of the Indian Football Association, Subratta Duta, held a remote video conference on the afternoon of the 3rd, and the representatives of the participating clubs unanimously agreed that the Indian Football Association proposed that the professional league be postponed for 6 weeks and then restarted.

The initiative was proposed by Hash Mahyan, a member of the Sports Medicine Committee under the Indian Football Association. During the meeting, he explained in detail to the delegates the reasons and reasons for proposing this extension plan. In view of the current rapid increase in confirmed cases throughout India, in order to effectively curb the spread of the epidemic, the government of West Bengal has issued a restraining order, and similar bans are likely to be fully implemented in other states soon. Unlike allowing players and officials to take risks in the current situation, the Indian Football Federation has proposed a six-week suspension of the professional league. The participants unanimously agreed to such a motion.

It is reported that in four weeks, that is, until January 31, the Indian Football Association League Committee will once again hold a video conference with the representatives of the clubs to make the next decision according to the epidemic situation at that time. At the same time, the meeting also asked all clubs to continue to implement "bubble closure", so that all players and coaches, staff, etc. of the team continue to implement closed management until January 7, and at the same time arrange a full staff test on January 5, only after the results are negative, all teams can return to the original club location. [Note: The 2021-22 Indian Pro League season began on November 19 last year, with 11 participating teams clustered in the Goa region in a bubble-like closed fashion, with matches arranged in three different stadiums. As of January 4, a total of 49 matches have been completed. 】

The Indian Football Association's decision to suspend the domestic league raises concerns about whether the 20th Women's Asian Cup, scheduled for January 20 in India, will go smoothly as planned. According to India's plan, the Women's Asian Cup will be held in three different cities in Maharashtra, namely Mumbai, New Mumbai and Pune.

Moreover, according to the requirements of the AFC, all participating teams will adopt a bubble-style closed management method, and all fans will be prohibited from entering the game. However, the current epidemic in India has suspended the top professional leagues in the country that use the same normal approach, so can the women's Asian Cup still be carried out as usual? So far, neither the Indian side nor the AFC side has made a clear statement.