Toni Dovale has kept away his football gears and instead put on a pharmacist’s white coat to help his country, Spain, fight the Covid-19 pandemic. But more than the virus, the former East Bengal and Bengaluru FC midfielder blames the “incompetence” of the authorities in his country for allowing the situation to worsen.
Dovale holds a degree in pharmacy from San Jorge University in Zaragoza.
“Yes, it is a bit embarrassing talking in this manner about my country. It may sound like a joke, but it seems to be true. Apparently, the Spanish government bought test kits from a company that was not recognised by Chinese authorities. It didn’t follow the Chinese authorities’ advice and those tests were then found to be fake,” Dovale told The Telegraph from A Coruña, a city in northwest Spain.
“It’s ridiculous. But it’s very sad because people are dying here while our authorities are showing themselves to be very incompetent. It’s a shame, but it’s true.”
Dovale began his professional career for Celta Vigo B in 2007 and then played for Sporting Kansas City in the MLS, Leganes and Rayo Vallecano before moving to India in 2017 to represent Bengaluru FC.
He donned the East Bengal jersey during the 2018-19 season and, thereafter, shifted to Thai League 2 club Royal Thai Navy FC.
In these difficult times, however, Dovale’s degree in pharmacy has come in handy.
“After my season finished in Thailand, I came here to visit my family during Christmas. I was then getting ready to go back to Asia some weeks ago for the start of the new season and suddenly this issue cropped up.
“First, Asian countries wanted Europeans to stay in quarantine and later they forbade us to travel there. As a result, I couldn’t go to play and at the same time, the situation started becoming alarming in Spain.
“Only the supermarket and pharmaceutical stores were open and everybody had to stay quarantined at home.
“So, in such a scenario with everything else coming to a grinding halt, I felt it was the time to help,” he said.
“I train hard every morning at home since I can’t go out and practise. And after that begins my job to come to people’s aid.”
Dovale believes it will take Spain years to recover from the massive loss the nation has suffered because of this pandemic.
“It will take us a long time to recover. We will be in quarantine for some more weeks at least because the death toll seems to be increasing every day.
“We don’t know how things will improve after that, but it will take some months to return to normal life. And the economic consequences will last for years.”
