Mizoram Football Association (MFA) announced the postponement of the eighth season of the flourishing Mizoram Premier League (MPL) as a rippling effect of the coronavirus pandemic.
In the MFA Executive Committee Meeting, the decision was reached at to postpone the MPL indefinitely until next year.
The meeting was held to discuss the avenues for the successful 2020-2021 football season, where putting the top tier league on hold was thought to be the best option.
Apart from MPL, coronavirus has also led to the cancellation of two prestigious MFA competitions - the MFA Super Cup and Independence Day Football Tournament.
"The MFA Executive Committee will determine whether it will be viable to hold this season's Mizoram Premier League next year further down the line.
"The MFA has also informed its District Football Associations and Zone Football Associations to cease all competitions until further notice. A Special General Body meeting will be held on July 24 to discuss potential propositions regarding the season for District and Zone FAs.
"Issues regarding player transfers during this season, player registration, competitions within the district as well as Inter-District Football Competitions will also be discussed in the Special General Body meeting," MFA said in its statement.
The disruption caused by coronavirus pandemic had also cancelled five competitions in the MFA calendar, namely, The MFA Cup, Inter District Junior Boys, Inter District Women Championship, MFA Women's League and MFA Futsal League.
Only last year, Mizoram Premier League had secured a groundbreaking deal with Sony LIV for the national broadcast of the state league.
MFA's decision comes after both Kerala Football Association and Shillong Sports Association also postponed their top tier leagues.
The KFA postponed its newly conceived franchise-based Kerala Super League to the 2021-2022 season due to the pandemic. The eight-team league was expected to start this year in November but the situation in the state did not allow the authorities to go ahead with their plan.
On the other hand, Shillong Sports Association cancelled all its football tournaments owing to the economic impact of the pandemic.
Even though Meghalaya has the lowest number of Covid infections in the country, apart from Lakshadweep, sponsorship issues led to the decision from the association.
The decision means, there will be no Shillong Premier League, U-18 Shillong Premier League and SSA's lower leagues this year.
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