DDPL players will be devastated in wake of the suspended league: Dunga

Technical Director at the Football Association of Maldives (FAM) Ahmed Shareef (Dunga) has stated that upholding the suspension of the Dhiraagu Dhivehi Premier League (DDPL) could be disastrous for players.

The DDPL had been halted on 3 February, due to an increase in Covid-19 cases being reported in the Maldives' capital Male', where the matches were being conducted at the national stadium. Almost a month has passed since the league was suspended under a blanket ban on sports and sports-related activities issued by the HPA, and the national football community have expressed concerns that no date had been decided for when play could resume for the league.

FAM's Technical Director Dunga remarked that the DDPL's suspension was disastrous for players in an appearance on Raajje TV's "Kulhivaru File" programme, noting that players form, performance and physcial fitness had also been severely impacted during the long break in matches observed in the previous season as well. He added that players had been ill-prepared to play the league as a result of the previous seasons' hiatus, but noted a significant improvement in the performance and fitness of players at the end of the first round of matches.

Dunga declared that the suspension of the DDPL had forced players back to a devastating "square zero," and said that this would also impact the excitement which had surrounded this year's league.

In addition to this, Dunga declared that this year's DDPL had been the most promising one in recent years, and emphasized the stellar performance on behalf of younger players. Dunga appealed for players to be allowed to at least conduct practices and trainings within a controlled environment, noting that without such arrangements, a severely negative impact would be observed in the performance of teams once the league was resumed.

While efforts are now underway to have the DDPL resume, all players, officials and technical staff associated with the league have now received their first doses of the Covishield vaccine. FAM President Bassam Adeel Jaleel has also recently confirmed that permits would soon be issued to allow first division teams to resume practices and trainings under stricter health and safety regulations. A total of 34 matches had been played in the league at the time of the DDPL's suspension earlier this month.