Foreign players and staff leave FC Goa due to record virus surge

The South Asian nation of 1.3 billion people is battling a record-breaking rise that has seen it report more than 2.4 million infections over the past seven days. The foreign staff were allowed to leave ahead of FC Goa's last Asian Champions League match against the UAE's Al Wahda in Goa on Thursday.

"While the AFC Champions League remains an important competition for FC Goa, the club management felt that the wellbeing of the players to be its first and foremost responsibility," the Indian Super League side said in a statement. "This comes as a pre-emptive measure in view of recent policies being taken by European and other countries in regards to travellers from India."

FC Goa's foreign contingent includes head coach Juan Ferrando, Spanish players Edu Bedia, Ivan Gonzalez and Jorge Ortiz and Australia's James Donachie.