India U-16s tour to Tajikistan scrapped amid coronavirus concerns

The Blue Colts were earlier scheduled to play two friendlies against the hosts.

The India U-16 Football Team's exposure tour to Tajikistan has been cancelled post-outbreak of COVID-19 coronavirus.

India U-16s, currently the U-15 SAFF Champions, were slated to depart to play two Friendlies against Tajikistan U-16 National Team on March 5. Tajikistan are the current runners-up of the AFC U-16 Championship.

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An official mail to All India Football Federation from the Tajikistan Football Federation read: “Please note that as directed by the government of the Republic of Tajikistan due to the situation around the coronavirus, the citizens of 35 countries including India U-16s cannot visit Tajikistan.”

“In view of the above, the friendly matches between our teams stay cancelled.”

Meanwhile, the Senior National Team is also slated to play Tajikistan in Tajikistan on March 31. “We are keeping a close tab on the situation,” National team Director Abhishek Yadav informed.

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The international outbreak of coronavirus has created an alarming situation in several countries. Several matches in Italian Serie A too have been reportedly postponed. Moreover, there are also growing concerns surrounding the upcoming huge sporting events like the UEFA Euro 2020 and Tokyo Olympics 2020.

Related - Coronavirus: It's impact on world football

The outbreak of the deadly coronavirus, that has already claimed 3115 global deaths up till now, has led several countries to take precautionary measures. Recently, Italian giants Juventus have also reportedly quarantined their entire B team after their opponents were suspected to have hit by the deadly virus. In addition to that, the senior team also had their recent fixture in the Serie A against Inter Milan get cancelled amid coronavirus concerns.

That explains the severity of the situation across the world and thus, the India U-16s tour cancellation comes as a necessary step taken by the Tajikistan football federation.