Union sports minister Kiren Rijiju announced that sports facilities are open again. “Khelo India Phir Se. All stadia and sports complexes are open again.
The Sports Authority of India (SAI) released a 45-page Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) on Thursday, laying out the protocols for resumption of sport in India after an almost two-month lockdown due to Covid-19.
Union sports minister Kiren Rijiju announced that sports facilities are open again. “Khelo India Phir Se. All stadia and sports complexes are open again. However health of athletes and other stakeholders comes first. A detailed SOP has been prepared to ensure that,” he tweeted.
A six-member SAI panel headed by secretary Rohit Bharadwaj has framed the guidelines. It has drawn from various documents including The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) Framework for Rebooting Sport in a COVID-19 Environment. The Australian guidelines were mentioned in a HT report on May 7.
“The SOP incorporates the best practices being followed across the world and is customised to the Indian context,” Bharadwaj said while releasing the SOP. “The committee went through all the possible aspects of starting sports activity and submitted its report to the government; (it) has approved the SOP based on the report.”
Respective state governments must be consulted while resuming activities. “It is meant for all the stakeholders—athletes, coaches, support staff, admin staff. We have tried to cover all. Everything should be done in consideration with local authorities,” he said.
