ISL: ATKMB's Roy Krishna might leave for national duty in January, reveals Fiji coach

Roy Krishna might fly to Fiji after the first phase of the Indian Super League (ISL) to join his national teammates for the 2022 FIFA World Cup Oceania qualifiers.

Fiji's coach Flemming Serritstlev informed that he will start the national camp from next week and the ATK Mohun Bagan player will join the rest of the players in January 2022.

What did Fiji's coach Serristlev say about Roy Krishna?

"We are marching into camp next Monday. Right now Roy is the only confirmed overseas-based player in the national side. Overseas based players need to be in the country by Friday, January 10, 2022 so that by Monday they are cleared to join us. Taking that into consideration, it is not possible to have another overseas based player with the Covid-19 restrictions," he stated to FijiSun.

What does it mean for ATK Mohun Bagan?

Roy Krishna is an integral part of the green and maroon brigade and has started in all matches in the current edition. They will play their last match of the first phase on January 8 against Odisha. So it is confirmed that the striker will be available for all games till then.

But, if he goes on to join his national team camp in January itself then Bagan will miss his services for the latter half of the season. This will be a major blow as Krishna remains their most potent goal scorer.

However, the club management might find a solution with the Fiji Federation as the Oceania Qualifiers start only on March 14. By then, the ISL finals might get over, and Krishna can then focus on his national team duties. Fiji has been placed in Group B of the qualifiers along with New Zealand, New Caledonia, and Papua New Guinea.