Two years ago Ali was barred from playing owing to a congenital heart defect; AIFF said this season’s I-League will start in December and run until April next year.
Follow Us
In a major breakthrough, All India Football Federation on Friday allowed the promising defender Anwar Ali to resume his career to competitive level but asked him to produce an affidavit claiming full responsibility. Two-years ago the talented footballer was barred from playing owing to a congenital heart defect. Ali took the AIFF to the Delhi High Court which ruled in his favor. In other decisions, the AIFF said this season’s I-League will start in December and run until April next year. The decisions were announced following the AIFF executive committee on Friday.
Ali was one of the most exciting talents to emerge after the U-17 World Cup in India. However his footballing career took a slump, when he was diagnosed with a rare heart condition called Apcial Hypercardio Myopathy (HCM) in 2019 and was barred from playing competitive football by AIFF.
“Based on the recommendation of the AIFF Medical Committee, the Ex. Co have asked former junior Indian International footballer Anwar Ali to produce an affidavit claiming full responsibility, along with details of the medical precautions to be taken by him, and his prospective club to make him eligible to play competitive football,” read the AIFF statement.
The decision is a huge boost for the 21-year-old. “I’m grateful for the decision made by the AIFF. I am looking forward to playing at the highest level once again,” Ali told ESPN.
The chairman of England Football Association’s cardiology consensus panel and the lead cardiologist for the London olympics has said the former Indian Arrows player should be allowed to play competitive football as long as he “understands the risks” and “is under regular surveillance by an expert team.”
Meanwhile, last year Ali had filed a writ petition in the Delhi High Court against the AIFF recommendation that barred him from playing professionally, as it would put his health at risk.
Ali’s lawyer argued that his “right to livelihood” cannot be taken away from him.
Ali was part of the Minerva Punjab academy from where he was picked up for the U-17 World Cup team. And then he joined the Indian Arrows on loan in 2017, where he was a regular starter. During his stint with the Indian Arrows the central-defender caught the eye of the national team selectors and thereby got selected for the senior Indian team camp. And then in 2019 he joined Indian Super League (ISL) side Mumbai City FC.
Meanwhile after the downfall following the unfortunate medical condition Ali’s career continued to remain in a state of limbo. However he didn’t lose hope and continued playing for a series of smaller clubs. Adjacent to every field he played in was the mandatory ambulance with the automated External Defibrillator, which is what he will need in an emergency.
The competition calendar of 2020-21 has been brought forward to 2021-22 because of the coronavirus induced pandemic.. The National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy Zonal rounds will be held from November 21, 2021, while the final round is slated to be in January, 2022.
Sunando Dhar, CEO Leagues, said, “The number of matches have increased and the League will get over by first week of April 2022.
“The Hero I-League Qualifiers will kick off under the bubble in Bengaluru from October first week. We have had 29 teams from 19 states contesting for the 10 spots in the HIL qualifiers.” In addition, the Women’s Senior National Football Championship will be held from November onwards.
Referring to the forthcoming AFC Women’s Asian Cup in India, AIFF president Praful Patel said, “Though we always like to broad base such tournaments across the country, unfortunately due to the pandemic situation as we were in the danger of losing the hosting rights for the tournament, we planned to host it within the bubble in and around the Mumbai region.
“That allows us access to an adequate number of training pitches, and the three stadiums in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, and Pune.” AIFF deputy general secretary Abhishek Yadav updated the committee about the National Centre of Excellence in Kolkata, the first phase of which is to be completed by the end of this year.
