As the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic slows down, Tokyo Olympics organisers have announced certain additional mandatory rules for contingents arriving from 11 countries including India, which has irked the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and the Indian Sports Ministry
June 23: The event which was to be held in 2020 but was postponed due to the raging pandemic is to begin on July 23 and the Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (TOCOG) is leaving no stone unturned in ensuring that the Games are held in a safe, Covid-free environment. In light of this, the TOCOG, on June 21, declared additional, stringent restrictions for the contingents including athletes, coaches and support staff arriving from countries which were among the worst affected by the devastating second wave of the pandemic, apart from the general precautionary protocol to be followed by all the contingents. As per the official protocol for the supplementary restrictions, they will have to undergo daily Covid-19 tests for a week before departing for Tokyo and not come into contact with members of any other delegations for three days after arrival. India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Nepal and Afghanistan- countries in Group 1 will all have to follow this new protocol.
However, this has not gone down well with the IOA which has called the rules “unfair and discriminatory”. Indian Sports Minister, Kiren Rijiju on June 22 said that such discrimination should not be allowed to take place because that would tantamount to breaching of the Olympic Charter. He also said that in order to address this issue the IOA, as per his directions, has lodged a formal complaint with the Tokyo organisers. He also expressed his concern for the mental stress such unnecessary restrictions would cause to the players. The IOA said the rules would result in athletes losing three significant training days.
“Athletes are allowed to arrive in the Games village only five days before their event,” IOA president Narinder Batra and Secretary Rajeev Mehta said in a joint statement on June 19. “Now three days will be wasted, this is the time the athletes need to be moving towards their mode to peak; highly unfair for Indian athletes, who have worked hard for five years, to be discriminated against just five days before the Olympics.”
The IOA on June 21 also enquired the TOCOG if the additional restrictions will be applicable on the Indian athletes who have been training outside India for more than a month and will depart for Tokyo directly from their respective training locations, since those countries are not among the 11 countries that must follow the additional rules. The IOA has also raised concerns with regard to the RT-PCR tests of the athletes done 48 hours prior to departing for Tokyo as it would not be possible to get the test reports in time. The TOCOG approved list of labs and testing facilities in India are few and also far away from the players’ training locations.