Dhaka: In a massive hit by the deadly coronavirus, 18 Bangladesh national team footballers have tested positive for COVID-19. While Bangladesh Police FC strikers Naimul Islam Rasel and MS Bablu and Uttar Baridhara Striker Md Suman Reja tested positive on Wednesday, as many as seven players were diagnosed with the virus on Thursday and Friday each.
12 players went for testing on Thursday, out of which seven are Md Totul Hossain Badsha, Sohel Rana, Md Shohid Alam (all Abahani Limited), Md Ibrahim, Sushanto Tripura (all Bashundhara Kings), Anisur Rahaman and Rabiul Hasan. Bashundhara Kings defender Bishwanath Ghosh had earlier tested positive on Tuesday.
The latest lot includes Biplu Ahmed, Faysal Fahim, Yeasin Arafat, Mahbubur Rahman, Monjorur Rahman, Mohammad Abdullah and Manik Molla. Besides the players, assistant coach Masud Parvez’s results also came out positive.
The players were a part of the preliminary squad who were called up for the national camp that will begin on August 7 ahead of Bangladesh’s FIFA World Cup 2022 and AFC Asian Cup 2023 joint qualifiers in October-November. The Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) had made it mandatory for all the players to undergo COVID-19 tests at the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Hospital.
According to reports, these positive-tested players will go into quarantine for 14 days and will be tested again. Once tested negative, then only they can join the national camp. Meanwhile, skipper Jamal Bhuiyan and defender Tariq Raihan Kazi couldn’t join the camp as they are in their respective countries in Denmark and Finland.
This is not the first time sportspersons in Bangladesh have been hit by the deadly virus. Former Bangladesh cricket captain Mashrafe Mortaza, Nazmul Islam and Nafees Iqbal have been tested positive and recovered fully. Till August 6, Bangladesh have registered 249,651 positive cases with 3306 deaths.
