All the sporting events will resume under the guidelines issued by the government say Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju


All the sporting events will resume under the guidelines issued by the government say Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju

Kiren Rijiju

On Tuesday, Union Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju said that all the sporting events will start under the guidelines issued by the central government.

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According to the new guidelines issued by the Central government has allowed to open the stadiums and sports complexes for athletes but spectators will not be allowed in the stadium. 

Rijiju said the guidelines will be followed, “Sporting activity will start but the guidelines of the MHA need to be followed, there are certain restrictions and they have to be followed, SAI has already made its Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), it needs to be followed because there are different sports and maintaining the safety of players is of utmost importance.”

He also said that safety and health should be the first priority, “We want to start the activities but at the same time we have to ensure that health and safety are given top priority, we are also giving a go-ahead to private academies which come under the Khelo India scheme, our purpose is to give athletes the room to train as they have been under lockdown for almost two months.”

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SAI will also given permission to restart the training, “We have already issued the SOP and all SAI sports academies will be allowed to start training, we are also authorising all other academies to start there sporting activities within the sporting complex, it has to be within the norms and the activities need to be done inside the arena, you cannot have activities anywhere. Covid-19 has had a deep impact on the sports sector because there are so many people who are affected, many people in this sector have been affected, some are jobless so we have to start the activities so that everybody can be engaged again.”

On the other hand Rijiju also said that National Sports Federations (NSFs) can resume the training but SOP need to be followed.

The minister clarified that, “All the sport disciplines are not the same, for example, weightlifting or any sports which do not have physical contact with each other it has its own way of starting as per its Standard Operating Procedure (SOP). But other sports like boxing, wrestling, hockey, football, in these games you have physical contact involved so there are different procedures for different sporting events. That’s why right now we can start events but they need to be held without spectators, for example, online Wushu Championship is going on, if any sports federation wants to organise a sporting event they can do it in a stadium but they have to first ensure that the SOP is maintained and being followed properly.”

Rijiju also confirmed that training will be resume for those who have been qualified for international championships. “Secondly all the conduct has to be carried out with certain discipline, you can’t just open everything up. In SAI, we are starting with elite athletes those who are Olympics bound and those who are going to participate in international championships in the near future, so first of all the elite athletes and secondly those who are in our national centre of excellence and then there are many other hostels and athletes who have to be picked up under Khelo India schemes, we can’t allow all of them to train together so will have to do it in a staggered manner.”

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Till now, gym and swimming have not been allowed to to resume.

Rijiju also said that what can happen if athletes will not practice, “We are doing it in a phased manner, we have given permission for the activities to kickstart but you need to maintain control and take the states in confidence as some regions also fall under the red zones so you have to be more careful about the activities being conducted in red zones. Sporting activities have to start because if you don’t play, if you don’t do activities it also has negative effects overall on your physical condition and mental condition.”