ISL Season 8: The Indian Super League (ISL) match between league leaders Kerala Blasters and defending champions Mumbai City FC that was scheduled to play on Sunday has been postponed due to rising COVID-19 cases. Follow all the ISL 2021-22 LIVE Updates only on InsideSport.IN
“Indian Super League (ISL) has decided to postpone Match No. 62 between Kerala Blasters FC and Mumbai City FC scheduled to be played today, Sunday, January 16, 2022, at Tilak Maidan Stadium, Vasco. The League will look to reschedule the fixture to a later date,” ISL informed by a statement.
Match 62 of #HeroISL 2021-22 between @KeralaBlasters & @MumbaiCityFC has been postponed. (1/4)
League Statement: https://t.co/nP4GpGTnQa#KBFCMCFC #LetsFootball pic.twitter.com/kBPiurMRC5
— Indian Super League (@IndSuperLeague) January 16, 2022
“The decision has been taken in consultation with the League’s medical team after it was assessed Kerala Blasters FC do not have the requisite number of players available for the match,” the statement added.
The league has already rescheduled two matches in the last eight days before this one and with another rescheduling things are not looking nice for the ISL. The league officials have earlier told that they will only reschedule some games if future dates are available. However, in other cases, the team unable to field a starting lineup will have to be penalised by awarding a 3-0 walkover win to their opponents.
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In this case, the Kerala Blasters camp has been affected by COVID-19 and since ISL could shift it to a later date the match got postponed. Earlier ATK Mohun Bagan’s matches against Odisha and Bengaluru got postponed due to rising COVID-19 cases.
When ATK Mohun Bagan’s consecutive matches got postponed there was a lot of talk going on in social media and also among a few players. But now with over 30 positive cases across six different ISL teams, it will be interesting to see how the Indian Super League committee manages to curb the adversities. While the league can definitely consider taking a short hiatus which will help the isolating players to get back up and running. However, they need to focus on various factors before taking such a call.
