Indian Football: WIFA suspends WFL 2021-22 season due to COVID surge

The Western India Football Association (WIFA) has suspended the ongoing WIFA Women's Football League 2021-22, being held at the Cooperage football ground, due to the recent surge in COVID-19 cases across the state.

The decision was taken after the Maharashtra government released its revised COVID-19 guidelines to be implemented in the state, a media statement issued by WIFA said on Monday.

The state government through its guidelines for Sporting Competitive Events has stated that "all sporting events except National and International level competitions, which are in progress, should be deferred in the State".

It has been directed that no District or City level sports camps, competitions, or events should be organized until further notice. The release further states that taking into consideration the above orders of the government, WIFA decided to suspend the WFL, until fresh guidelines are received from the state government.

Earlier, WIFA, after receiving phone calls from concerned parents of children participating in the WFL, had canceled the matches which were scheduled to be played on Sunday.

Mumbai is one of the cities to be worst affected by the recent wave of the pandemic and according to a bulletin issued by the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai, the megapolis reported over 19,000 positive cases on Sunday.