PANJIM: Following the directive of the All India Football Federation, the President Churchill Alemao, sought a meeting of the Emergency Committee to decide on the AIFF Circular wherein all footballing activities under the aegis of AIFF stay suspended from March 20 .
The views of the Emergency Committee Members were sought and all decided that understanding the seriousness of the situation due to the threat of Coronavirus and prioritising the importance of human health and life, all matches under the aegis of GFA be suspended from March 20 onwards till further notice.
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The GFA will take a stock of the situation in the coming weeks and take a decision abiding by the directives from the authorities. The ‘D’ Licence Course to be held at Duler Stadium, Mapusa, also has been called off.
GFA’s General Secretary Jovito Lopes pointed out, “We are in Stage II of the pandemic and that if we behave responsibly, we may not go the Iran or Italy way. Every citizen, who also includes a football player or sportsperson, must act responsibly and honestly follow the principles of self quarantine and social distancing or else all the efforts to contain the epidemic would go in vain and then this pandemic could move to Stages III and IV with disastrous consequences, like what is happening in Italy.”
Clarifying further, Lopes stated that in Stage III it will spread in the community with large areas getting affected. In Stage IV, the problem will take the shape of an epidemic with no clear end point. “Italy is already there, and it is high time that we learn from those mistakes. People in Italy are in quarantine, with one not being able to move in the streets and police ready to arrest anyone outside one’s home. Moreover, everything is closed what with markets and malls with empty shelves,” stated Lopes.
