ISL 2017: Dengue-hit ATK academy in fear of closing down?
Reigning ISL champions ATK are worried about the running of their youth academy due to a dengue outbreak, which has affected hundreds in Kolkata. The club had started the academy as a platform to young footballers from the city to build up their career. The youth team was started as a part of Indian Super League's youth development project.Reliable sourcecs revealed to Sportskeeda that as many as 13 academy players were diagnosed of the dengue and were admitted to a private hospital near the Salt Lake Stadium. Among the 13 players affected, eight are from U15 teams and 5 were from U13 teams. Three players where discharged from the hospital and the remaining 10 players are still in the under medical care.
The ATK U15 team had a horrible match against the local rivals, Mohun Bagan in AIFF Youth League, losing 13-0 to the young Mariners. In a massive win for Mohun Bagan, which saw three players scoring hat-trick was surely a humiliating defeat for ATK.
The result raised a lot of questions about the youth development programs of the Indian Super League clubs, with many fans criticising the ISL club's youth projects. Many Mohun Bagan fans made fun of ATK and Indian Super League youth development, saying that all the promises ISL made on youth development are are farce.
As a large number of players are said to have been affected by the dangerous disease, ATK where forced to field a weaker team. Sources say that this was the reason of such a huge defeat for the ATK developmental team.
The deadly disease has really hit hard on the running of the ATK academy. The Academy is in serious trouble with many of the youth players affected by Dengue. Dengue has seriously affected the day to day running of the ATK, and the results have humiliated the Kolkata-based club.