AFC Cup matches as per schedule, ATK-Mohun Bagan and Bengaluru FC to leave for Maldives soon
The Asian governing body has decided to go ahead with the Group D matches of the AFC Cup in the Maldives, even though their government’s request to postpone the same owing to the rise in the number of Covid-19 cases. ATK-Mohun Bagan and Bengaluru FC have their matches scheduled in the Maldives.
India have successfully hosted the Group E matches of the ongoing AFC Champions League, in Goa. However, the situation in India towards the closing stages deteriorated due to the second wave of Covid-19, which is still claiming the lives of more than 3000 people in the country each day.
However, the other two Indian clubs, ATK-Mohun Bagan and Bengaluru FC – set to feature in the AFC Cup - had their matches scheduled in the Maldives. With a similar scene in the island nation, the Maldives government had requested the AFC (Asian Football Confederation) to postpone the matches.
But, as per the recent reports of Goal.com, the AFC has decided to go ahead with the Group D matches as per plan. In spite of the development, ATK-Mohun Bagan might lose out on a lot of their core players owing to the pandemic situation, including start striker Roy Krishna, Australian David Williams, while the arrival of their Spanish manager Antonio Lopez Habas is also in jeopardy.Â
Meanwhile, Bagan’s custodian Arindam Bhattacharya won’t travel with the team, with him to stay back and support her mother, who is infected with COVID-19. The players will undergo COVID-19 tests in a private hospital in Kolkata, on May 7, before leaving for the Maldives.
Meanwhile, Bengaluru FC, who are set to lock horns with local side Eagles FC on May 11 in the play-offs, will leave for the Maldives, this Friday. The entire team is now in Goa, inside a bio-bubble.