KOCHI: The I-League season is set to get underway from January 2021 and Gokulam Kerala FC are wasting no time as they are among the first participating clubs to resume on-field training activities.
Footballing activities had resumed in India from October with the I-League qualifiers being played in Kolkata. The Indian Super League is also set to get underway from November 20 with clubs busy with pre-season preparations in Goa and playing friendlies against each other.
However, as far as clubs participating in the I-League are concerned, the Kozhikode based outfit have hit the ground running. “Of course, other than Mohammedan Sporting who won the I-League qualifiers, Gokulam are probably the only team to have started training as far as teams who will participate in the upcoming I-League is concerned. We have given all the clubs the Covid-19 SOPs for training from All India Football Federation (AIFF) and rest is down to them,” said I-League CEO Sunando Dhar.
The Kerala club had initially planned to resume training by mid-October but they had to wait since Section 144 was imposed in Kozhikode during that time. After getting permission from the district administration to train at the EMS Corporation Stadium recently, the players including those from other states completed their mandatory quarantine period and took to the field for light training.
Meanwhile, their Italian head coach Vincenzo Alberto Annese arrived on Saturday and has gone into quarantine. “We would have preferred more time (to train ahead of the new season). But this situation is new but I want to prepare my guys to be at their maximum. Everybody would prefer two-three months preparation but we need to understand the situation and respect it,” said Annese who flew in from Armenia.
While Gokulam were not able to have any on-field activities for almost half a year, they had started online training for players last month. “I’ve been keeping in touch with players and everyone at the club. I was preparing the guys from one month so that they don’t start from zero. It was also a good time to understand and get to know each other. They’ve been following the training programmes set out by our trainers to maintain their physical fitness,” said Annese.
While the domestic players are all in Kozhikode and residing at their club-house, their new foreign recruit Dennis Antwi Agyare, who hails from Ghana, is expected to arrive next week.Some of the key protocols set in place by the AIFF include: disinfecting the stadium, office and the residential facility for players, staged training activity and starting with six players per group, temperature checking in morning and evening, team physios regularly monitoring players for symptoms etc.
“The sessions per se won’t be any different due to the Covid-19. The staff are well aware of my training programmes and they will implement it. And it will be like I’m there even though I’d be in my room until my quarantine ends,” said Annese.It’s also the first time any team sporting activities is happening within Kerala ever since the lockdown.