By Debayan Mukherjee
Kolkata, March 20 (IANS) India women’s team striker Bala Devi, who plays for Scottish football club Rangers F.C., has decided to stay back in Glasgow after the Indian government on Thursday said that no international flight will be allowed to land in the country from March 22 for one week amid the growing number of positive coronavirus (Covid-19) cases in the country.
Bala, the first woman footballer from India to sign a professional contract with a foreign club, said that she was fine and the club was taking full care of her.
“We haven’t been training for the last few days. We are confined to our homes and I am training indoors. I cannot fly back home as per government regulations, but I am okay here. The club is taking care of me,” Bala told IANS from Glasgow on Friday.
“I am hoping the situation improves quickly. Food is becoming expensive here. The good thing is that the club is on hand to help all the time. I am continuing my workout at home and staying indoors mostly,” she added.
Three more people died on Thursday in Scotland after testing positive for coronavirus, bringing the total number of deaths in the country to six.
All professional football activity in the UK has been postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak.
The 30-year-old footballer from Manipur has so far played three games for Rangers F.C before the novel coronavirus reared its ugly head and forced sporting activities across the world to virtually come to a grinding halt.
Rangers were supposed to take on Spartans FC in a league match on March 15. Bala last featured against Hamilton WFC in a Cup game where she was a second-half substitute. The record Indian goalscorer had started in her first two matches.
“The club is looking after her. Her parents have also been informed so that they don’t panic,” Bala’s agent Anuj Kichlu told IANS.
In January, Rangers Football Club had announced the signing of Bala from Manipur Police Sports Club.
Bala joined the club on an 18-month deal after a successful spell on trial at Rangers in November. She is also Rangers’ first international footballer from Asia.
Bala is the current top scorer for the Indian national women’s team, netting an impressive 52 times in 58 games since 2010, also making her the top international goal- scorer in the South Asian region.
–IANS
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