Indian athletes preparing for the now-postponed Tokyo Olympics will remain in the country for the rest of the year. The nation’s sports authorities have agreed that those athletes who have either qualified for the Olympics or are yet to make the cut will not be allowed to train in a foreign land till December-end in view of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Keeping in mind the athletes’ health and safety, the authorities decided that the athletes should be encouraged to train within the country as and when the nationwide lockdown is lifted by the government and situation becomes normal with the resumption of the national camps.
This was discussed during a meeting between the top brass of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and representatives of the national sports federations (NSFs) through video conferencing. The meeting was also attended by Target Olympic Podium (TOP) scheme CEO, Cdr Rajesh Rajagopalan, on behalf of the Sports Authority of India (SAI).
The NSFs based their arguments for ‘no training abroad’ on these points: 1) Tokyo Olympics has been postponed for next year’s July-August; 2) Mostly all remaining Olympic qualifiers in different disciplines have been rescheduled for January 2021start; 3) Most of the international federations (IFs) don’t have any competitions lined up till end of the year; 4) Most big-ticket events like World Cup or World Championships have been rescheduled for 2021 or 2022 and 5) both the domestic and international calendar is in a shutdown mode and such a situation is likely to continue till end of the year.
A National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) official, who attended the meeting, explained: “All NSFs agreed that we need to be extra cautious. Like in the case of shooting, shooters generally like to train in Italy and Germany and these are among the worst-affected countries. You never know what is in store even after things become normal there. We can’t risk our shooters.”
Covid-19 test for athletes
Some NSFs mooted the idea of conducting a mandatory Covid-19 test on athletes, coaches and support staff reporting back to the camp after the lockdown. “Rapid testing will be carried out on each single individual and only after reports show them negative, will they be allowed in the camp.
