The entire season of I-League may be held in Kolkata keeping in mind the COVID-19 pandemic situation in the country, news agency IANS reported on July 12.
The report, quoting sources, said that among the plans to conduct the next season of the league, the officials are mooting on the idea host all the matches in one city.
“This is one of the plans that we are working on. Nothing’s confirmed yet,” a top source close to the development was quoted by the news agency.
The country’s top-tier competition, the Indian Super League (ISL), is also likely to be held in one city – or a maximum of two-three – with Goa emerging as the favourite to host the tournament behind closed-doors.
Multiple reports suggested that due to the COVID-19 crisis, the next season of ISL is almost certain to be organized closed doors and could also be hosted in just a few venues.
While it is too early to say whether the I-League, which is expected to start in the last week of November, will be held behind closed-doors or not as per sources, there are indications that it could go that way, considering the health situation in the country amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, it has also been learnt that the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata will not be used since it is locked for the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup.
The ISL will be held with players staying inside the bio-secure bubble to eradicate the threat of COVID-19 and the I-League is also slated to follow that, the IANS report added.
The 2019-20 I-League second division could not be completed due to the pandemic in March so the line-up for the 2020-21 I-League Season was yet to be decided.
