Union sports minister Kiren Rijiju said on Sunday that his ministry is devising a plan to ensure a phased resumption of national camps for Olympic-bound athletes by May-end.
But some of the national coaches are not happy with the decision and want to resume training as early as possible.
“It’s hampering athletes’ preparations for next year’s Tokyo Olympics. In the National Institute of Sports, Patiala, athletes are cooped up since mid-March and it’s becoming increasingly difficult for them to be under lockdown for so long. Neither are people from outside allowed in, nor can anyone go out. So where is the problem to start training now? Why wait till May-end?” one coach, who refused to be named, told The Telegraph.
The national camps were suspended in mid-March when the Covid-19 cases started going north in India. The lockdown will be on till at least May 17.
“The camps will start in a phased manner. First we will start training in NIS Patiala and SAI, Bangalore, where athletes are based currently... By the end of this month, training is expected to start in Bangalore and Patiala,” Rijiju said at a Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (Ficci) webinar.
Javelin throwers Neeraj Chopra, Shivpal Singh, Annu Rani and weightlifter Mirabai Chanu are some of the athletes who are in Patiala while the hockey men’s and women’s squads along with some from the athletics squad are in Bangalore. In Patiala “around 80 athletes” are staying.
“It’s getting extremely difficult for athletes of different disciplines. I do not know why the government is not allowing us to practise. Anyway, foreign training and competitions will not happen in the near future owing to the pandemic. At least they can train here maintaining social distance. You know what I fear? Soon these athletes will start losing motivation. They are already very restless. Then you have to keep an eye on weights in disciplines like weightlifting, boxing and wrestling,” the coach added.
Two-time Olympic medal winner and champion wrestler Sushil Kumar, during a chat with this newspaper last month, had emphasised on the importance of weight. “That to me will be the biggest challenge. You have to be very careful regarding weight. You cannot put on weight, particularly in the lower categories,” Sushil had said.
“You can have liquor shops open in red zones too. But we can’t train. Personally if you ask me it defies logic,” the coach opined.
Athletics Federation of India president Adille Sumariwalla though defended the sports ministry’s decision not to press the restart button.
“It’s going by the book. And to me it’s perfectly normal. The home ministry must have more data and knowledge about the scenario. So that’s the reason why Lockdown 3.0 is now on till May 17. One thing we must remember is an athlete’s health is of paramount importance. We have to tread carefully. We just cannot act hastily. AFI had asked the sports ministry when can athletes get back to training. There were discussions regarding that. And now that the sports minister said May-end, it is perfectly fine with us,” Sumariwalla said.
“If you ask a sportsperson when he or she would like to start training the answer will be ‘yesterday’. But it’s not in their hands. They have to understand that,” Sumariwalla added.
The terms of Sumariwalla and other office-bearers was extended during a special general body meeting held online on Saturday. It’s a first for national sports bodies. Elections will be held when a “physical meeting becomes possible”.