Mumbai City FC winger Bipin Singh has also tested positive for COVID-19 and he will also miss the trip to Maldives.
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Indian football was hit by COVID-19 on Sunday as Amrinder Singh tested positive for coronavirus. The ATK Mohun Bagan goalkeeper was named in the initial 23-man India squad for the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) championship, which was announced on Sunday. But, on Sunday evening, the 28-year-old’s test results returned positive and now he has been ruled out of the competition. Therefore, FC Goa custodian Dheeraj Singh has been named as a replacement for Amrinder.
Meanwhile the other big name to miss out due to coronavirus is Mumbai City FC’s Bipin Singh while Udanta Singh has returned to the squad. Hyderabad FC’s Akash Mishra and Jamshedpur FC’s Pronal Halder have also missed out on selection. Left-back Akash Mishra’s exclusion has been a surprise as the 19-year-old is considered one for the future. However, it looks like the Croatian boss has gone with the seasoned campaigner Mandar Rao Desai for now.
A tweet from the Indian Football Team’s official Twitter handle read:
“#BlueTigers goalkeeper Amrinder Singh has been replaced by Dheeraj Singh Moirangthem in the Indian National Team squad that is to travel to the Maldives for the SAFF Championship on Tuesday.”
The SAFF Championship will begin on October 1 in Maldives and India will play its first match against Bangladesh on October 4. The match will take place at the Maldives National Football Stadium in Male.
Meanwhile, as per the reports coming in, the Indian Super League (ISL) clubs were hesitant to send their U-23 players for SAFF competition, because of strict ISL quarantine protocols. And therefore, there was a delay from All India Football Federation (AIFF) in announcing the squad.
Meanwhile the final of the SAFF championship is slated to be held on October 16, and the AFC under-23 Asian Cup qualifiers will take place from October 25-31. Therefore, the U-23 players will have to undergo a mandatory eight day quarantine before they can train with their respective ISL clubs for the upcoming ISL season starting on November 19. As per the reports,the clubs felt that the players concerned would get very little time for preseason and to settle down with their teams and adjust to the coach’s strategy.
GOALKEEPERS: Gurpreet Singh, Vishal Kaith, Dheeraj Singh Moirangthem
DEFENDERS: Pritam Kotal, Seriton Fernandes, Chinglensana Singh, Rahul Bheke, Subhasish Bose, Mandar Rao Dessai.
MIDFIELDERS: Udanta Singh, Brandon Fernandes, Lalengmawia, Anirudh Thapa, Sahal Abdul Samad, Jeakson Singh, Glan Martins, Suresh Singh, Liston Colaco, Yasir Mohammad.
FORWARDS: Manvir Singh, Rahim Ali, Sunil Chhetri, Farukh Choudhary.
October 4: Bangladesh vs India (4:30 PM IST)
October 7: India vs Sri Lanka (4:30 PM IST)
October 4: Bangladesh vs India (4:30 PM IST)
October 7: India vs Sri Lanka (4:30 PM IST)
