BENGALURU: The Asian Football Confederation has postponed Group D matches of the AFC Cup, which was scheduled to start from May 14 in Male, Maldives. Also, the playoff game on Tuesday between Bengaluru FC and Club Eagles, which would have determined the fourth and final team in the group, has met the same fate.
“The AFC Cup (South) Group and Playoff Stage matches are now postponed until further notice with more information to be announced in due course,” read the AFC statement. Interestingly, AFC did not give any official reason for the postponement, but local media reports of Bengaluru players breaching the Covid-19 protocols might have led to it. Few members of the Bengaluru team were allegedly in the streets despite strict guidelines in place amidst concerns over the pandemic.
Besides, Maldives’ Minister of Youth, Sports and Community Empowerment, Ahmed Mahloof, also alleged that Bengaluru players flouted Covid guidelines and added that it left him disappointed. He referred to it as unacceptable behaviour and tweeted that the club should leave the country immediately. Even Bengaluru owner Parth Jindal issued an apology for the same on social media, stating that it will never happen again.
This postponement comes as a big blow for Bengaluru, who were training in Goa for the competition. They had reached Maldives on Friday for the playoff game. The club is now making arrangements to return, and stated that it will deal with the breach matter internally. “Bengaluru FC would also like to place on record an unconditional apology for a health and safety breach, involving one member of staff and two players.
This error in judgment in no way aligns or indicates otherwise stringent measures that the club has maintained,” the club said in its statement. However, the postponement might have come as a relief to one of the other teams in Group D, ATK Mohun Bagan, as two of their players – Prabir Das and SK Sahil – had tested Covid positive. The Kolkata club was set to fly to Maldives on Monday.