The football clubs of the country are concerned about the safety and health issues of their players and taking steps accordingly in the times of the coronavirus outbreak that has postponed all kinds of sports events including the top flight league until the end of the month.
The respective club representatives talked about their plans regarding the local and foreign players for the upcoming days after attending an emergency meeting of the professional league committee at the BFF House on Tuesday.
Most of the clubs are planning to give a short break to the local players while keeping the foreign recruits in their own arrangement and at the same time ensure the safety measurements. But Sheikh Russel KC, Sheikh Jamal DC, Police FC and Muktijoddha SKC don’t want to go through a break.
The Six-time professional league winners Abahani Limited are giving a four-day break. “The local players will join the camp on the fifth day after vacation and then the training will be continued.” said Abahani manager Satyajit Das Rupu.
Only Sunday Chizoba and Kervens Belfort among the Abahani’s foreign recruits stay in the club dormitory while the others including Portuguese head coach Mario Lemos live in apartments. The players trained at the club premises on Tuesday afternoon.
Minhajul Islam, the manager of reigning champions Bashundhara Kings, said they will give vacation to the local players but not decided yet about its length. Their foreign members stay in separate apartments. “The whole country is closed. We will also give break to the locals. We can’t release the foreign players due to travel restrictions,” said Minhajul.
Mahbubur Rahman Suman, the manager of Saif Sporting Club, said they may only allow one or two days of break to the local players. “The foreign players can’t leave the country. They will stay in the camp where we maintain all kinds of safety measurements. Everyone has to wash hands before entering the club,” said Suman.
The premier league is postponed until March 31 but Amer Khan, the Brothers Union manager, said it would be better if it is postponed for two months. “It’s a global crisis and the situation of the club is not good. We can’t take responsibility of the players. If the foreign players want to leave they can.”
Sarwar Hossain, the director of Mohammedan Sporting Club, whose players trained on Tuesday morning, also said they will allow players to leave if they want. “We will be giving vacation and think about it today [Tuesday] as the league may not resume until April 14-15. If anyone wants to stay in the club we have taken all safety measurements.”
Sheikh Maruf Hasan, manager of Police FC, said, “We have to think about players safety first. No final decision to release players but we don’t want them to leave. We will continue the training camp taking safety measurements.”
Sheikh Russel Director of Sports Saleh Jaman Selim, Sheikh Jamal’s manager Anwarul Karim Helal and Muktijoddha manager Ariful Islam also said they want to continue the training camp amid coronavirus fears.
Uttar Baridhara general secretary Jahangir Alam said they will give one-week break to the players while Arambag KS general secretary Yakub Ali said there will be a 15-day vacation for their players.