Assistant National Team Coach Admits Rise In COVID-19 Cases Disrupts Preparations For The 2022 AFF U-23 Cup

Indonesian National Team (Photo: PSSI)

JAKARTA - The surge in COVID-19 cases that occurred in Bali had many impacts on the continuity of the football agenda that took place on the Island of the Gods. One of them, in the preparation of the Indonesian national team ahead of appearing in the 2020 AFF U-23 Cup in Cambodia.

As a result of the increasing transmission of the corona virus, a number of agendas that have been made inevitably experience a slight setback. This is because all players, officials and support teams arriving in Bali must go through a PCR swab examination process before being allowed to enter and gather at the hotel where they are staying.

“Today I just entered the hotel. This morning we had to test all the players and officials," said the assistant coach of the Indonesian national team, Nova Arianto in a written statement received Friday, February 4.

The U-23 national team made Bali the location for their last training camp before finally leaving for Cambodia on Thursday, February 10. However, with the implementation of a strict health protocol (prokes), it means that all teams have to wait for the test results to come out and then they can continue their activities.

With the increasing number of COVID-19 cases forcing the implementation of super-strict procedures, Nova did not deny that this situation was quite disturbing the preparations for the Indonesian national team. However, he also emphasized that the Garuda Muda squad will continue to implement the procedures as recommended during the training camp.

"Certainly, the increasing number of Omicron cases is at least disturbing. So to anticipate this, this morning we conducted tests on all players and officials," explained Nova.

"So we will know and only players with negative results will join the hotel where the national team is staying," he said.

The Indonesian national team is scheduled to undergo a training camp from 4-10 February. On the 10th night, they will head straight to Cambodia to prepare for the 2022 AFF U-23 Cup.

Arriving in Cambodia, the new Indonesian national team will have their first match on Tuesday, February 15 against Laos at Prince Stadium Phnom Penh. The participation of the national team this time also carries a mission to defend the championship title that was successfully achieved in the 2019 edition.