Covid continues to play spoilsport in ISL Season 8

Jamshedpur FC’s Indian Super League contest against Hyderabad FC was postponed hours before kick-off here on Monday since the Jharkhand-based club was unable to field a team owing to Covid cases in its ranks.

According to tournament organiser Football Sports Development Limited, at least 15 players should be available per team for a match to go ahead. 

Sources said that the Jamshedpur contingent had been kept under isolation after a couple of members tested positive for Covid. In the pre-match press conference on Sunday, JFC head coach Owen Coyle stated that his team hadn’t stepped out for a week.

The Jamshedpur-Hyderabad fixture was the fourth ISL match in the ongoing season to be postponed because of the Covid scare inside the bio-bubbles. However, the organiser has no plan of suspending the League immediately.

Meanwhile, ISL ‘League Winners Shield’ holder Mumbai City FC has been placed in Group B alongside Al Jazira (the UAE), Al Shabab (Saudi Arabia) and Air Force Club (Iraq) in its maiden AFC Champions League campaign that is set to begin in April. The AFC CL group stage draw took place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Monday.