FAM to resume DDPL on Friday, following green light from HPA

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) has given the green light to resume the Dhiraagu Dhivehi Premier League (DDPL).

Bassam Adeel Jaleel, the President of the Football Association of Maldives confirmed that the association has received approval to resume DDPL, on Thursday night.

Earlier, FAM revealed that they were working to resume the league on March 21, which was delayed for unspecified reasons.

DDPL was brought to an abrupt halt on February 3, due to new safety precautions set forth by the public health authorities against spiraling Covid-19 cases. Super United Sports (SUS) and Club Eagles as well as Club Green Streets and United Victory were scheduled to play matches that day. These matches have since been rescheduled for March 26.

The cancellation led to a wave of concerns by clubs and officials regarding losses that will face players and clubs due to the cancellation, followed by requests to allow practices and DDPL to resume.

Following this, the Health Protection Agency (HPA) granted first division football clubs the green light to begin training sessions under the new safety guidelines set against forth by authorities, on February 25.

In a letter addressed to the Bassam earlier, the Director General of Public Health, Maimoona Aboobakuru confirmed that first division football teams will be allowed to resume practices in accordance with the new guidelines and safety precautions, however, she urged caution in order to maintain the safety and security of football officials and players from the fatal infection, as daily infections have been on the rise in the Greater Malé Region for months.

Although first division clubs were given the green light to resume training sessions, HPA urged the association to delay beginning practices by another fortnight despite which training sessions resumed on Sunday.

FAM is currently preparing for the AFC Cup Qualifiers, after HPA allowed the match where Eagles and Bhutan’s Champions Thimpur City will go head to head on 7 April, to be held in the capital city.

All players and officials taking part in DDPL have been administered their first dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covishield vaccination.

While DDPL was brought to a halt amid the second round, first division clubs had started the season’s training sessions in October 2020 under special guidelines and instructions set collaboratively by HPA and FAM.

Under a special HPA permit, the ongoing season kicked off during December last year with the Charity Shield Match. DDPL also launched in accordance with HPA guidelines in December and thus far, 34 matches have been played.