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Coronavirus:Stuck in lockdown,Real Kashmir FC coach Robertson wants to go home

LocalCoronavirus:Stuck in lockdown,Real Kashmir FC coach Robertson wants to go home
David Robertson. File pic/KSW

Having faced number of lockdowns since setting foot in Kashmir for coaching Real Kashmir FC, the Scottish coach Kashmir based club has said that he wants to go home to meet his daughter and son back home who he don’t know how are coping with Coronavirus pandemic.

In an interview with BBC Scotland, David Robertson who is stuck in Kashmir due to Countryside lockdown due to Corovirus pandemic said that he has never faced such sitaution despite being part of one of the toughest restrictions in past.

For him this time it’s different,as the whole of India’s 1.4 billion population was put under strict restrictions on Wednesday in a bid to curb the spread of coronavirus, the Scot saw his hopes of making it home to Aberdeen evaporate.

A complete 21-day lockdown, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, followed the suspension of domestic and international flights.

And it leaves the 51-year-old, wife Kim and son Mason, who plays for Real Kashmir, stranded 4,000 miles from home.

Mason Robertson. File Pic/AIFF

“It’s a scary time in the world and our family being split apart makes it even more difficult,” the former Aberdeen, Rangers and Scotland full-back was quoted by BBC Scotland.

“It’s hard being away from home, particularly being parents. We’ve got one child here but another two in Scotland and we want to all be together.

“My daughter is at home and my son was in Mexico, but he was lucky to get one of the last flights out of there and got home a day or so ago.

“Both my wife’s parents and my parents are also in Aberdeen, and they’re obviously elderly, so there is a concern being so far away.”

For most of the past week Robertson, Kim and Mason have been confined to a hotel owned by Real Kashmir’s owner.

But with access now severely restricted, he fears they may run out of essential supplies.

“Srinagar Airport is now closed, so the only way to get in is a single-track road most of the way from Delhi, which takes 12 hours,” said Robertson.

“Thankfully there’s only a handful of us left. A lot of the Indian players have gone home. But I think it’s just being in a strange place, a foreign country miles from home and sort of shut off from the rest of India, which is quite worrying.”

“It’s a worldwide scare, but this kind of situation has been part and parcel of coaching or playing with Real Kashmir,” he added.

“Ourselves and the team are used to being in the hotel when there has been a shutdown, because of political reasons. There have been times we’ve had no internet, there were three weeks this season when we couldn’t make phone calls. I think we’re used to every issue that arises.

“I’ve had a great experience here, the football side of it has been great. I’ve learned a lot, it’s made me a better person. The club started from nothing and is now quite famous, we’ve been successful. But at the moment I just want to get home.”

Excerpts from Interview with BBC Scotland.

For Original Interview Readers Can Check This Link (https://www-bbc-co-uk.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.bbc.co.uk/sport/amp/football/52032380?amp_js_v=a3&amp_gsa=1&usqp=mq331AQFKAGwASA%3D#referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.co.uk%2Fsport%2Ffootball%2F52032380)

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