The Indian football team will leave for Qatar on May 19 after the gulf country, in a big relief, accepted All India Football Federation’s (AIFF) request to allow its players to train there ahead of the 2022 World Cup Qualifiers next month.
Not only that, Qatar has even agreed to the AIFF’s request to waive the mandatory 10-day hard quarantine after reaching there. The players will have a preparatory camp of nearly two weeks in a bio-bubble in Qatar before the first match on 3 June.
“We are planning to fly the team on 19 May evening. There will be no quarantine (of the players) and they will be in a bio-bubble,” AIFF general secretary Kushal Das told PTI on Saturday.
He said the players will assemble in New Delhi and they will be tested for COVID-19 before their departure to Qatar.
India is already out of reckoning for a 2022 FIFA World Cup berth but is still in contention for a 2023 Asian Cup spot in the joint qualifiers.
The remaining three matches — against Qatar (June 3), Bangladesh (June 7) and Afghanistan (June 15) — are crucial for Asian Cup qualification.
Qatar was picked by the Asian Football Confederation in March as the centralised venue to host the remaining Group E matches owing to the coronavirus-related travel and quarantine restrictions.