Myanmar head coach Velizar Popov wrote on her social media page that the U-23 Myanmar men’s football team has had to withdraw from the AFF U-23 Championship (2022) because of COVID-19 infections.

Of 23 Myanmar football players, 18 are said to be infected with COVID-19.

“With deep regret, we would like to inform you all that our team is infected with COVID-19 and unfortunately for us we must withdraw from the AFF U23 Championship 2022,” wrote Popov.

“We are at the peak of the most contagious wave of COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic globally and unfortunately the spread of the virus is out of our control. Our main concern is the safety of our players because the life of every single player is more important than any football match.”

She explained: “At the moment we have only 5 fully fit players out of 26 players [in the] squad without Covid-19 symptoms - all other players are positive and symptomatic, so in this critical situation we are contagious and also a danger for our opponents and we don’t have another choice but to withdraw from the tournament.”