Bengaluru FC return, foreigners head home

Bengaluru FC returned home on Monday, a day after their AFC Cup playoff match against Club Eagles - along with the AFC Cup Group D games - was postponed by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

The foreign contingent - both players and support staff, including the head coach - have left for their respective countries from Maldives, a club source confirmed.

The Indian Super League side landed in hot water in Maldives, where some of the club members breached the strict Covid-19 protocols set in place by the country's Health Protection Agency ahead of their match scheduled on Tuesday.

What followed was a cascading series of events which included the host country citing the inability to host the games and subsequently AFC postponing the playoff match and the Group D games which were set to start in Male from May 14.

The postponement worked well for ATK Mohun Bagan, who were set to travel for the tournament on Monday. Bagan had two players testing positive for Covid-19 on Saturday and their preparatory camp was cancelled due to the Covid-19 caseload in the country.

BFC said they will take stringent against those who broke the guidelines and will deal with it internally.

It is learned that AFC is looking at June as a potential time frame to conduct the matches, although there is no official intimation. Earlier, Group J matches set to be played in Hong Kong were also postponed from May to June due to the challenges set by Covid-19.