In a recent announcement, all national camps except those where athletes are preparing for the forthcoming Tokyo Olympics have been postponed until any further announcement on Tuesday, amid the threat caused by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The same has been confirmed by Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs Kiren Rijiju.
Rijiju stated that the academic training centre at the National Training Centre of Excellence and Sports Authority of India Training Centres will also be suspended as a precautionary measure against the deadly virus.
“Due to Covid-19, SAI has decided that: All National camps shall be postponed except for those where athletes are being trained as part of Olympics #Tokyo2020 preparation,” Rijiju tweeted.
Due to Covid-19, SAI has decided that:
1. Academic training in National Centre of Excellence & STCs shall be suspended till further order.
3. All National camps shall be postponed except for those where athletes are being trained as part of Olympics #Tokyo2020 preparation. pic.twitter.com/wDrzAP0tlY— Kiren Rijiju Office (@RijijuOffice) March 17, 2020
“Academic training in National Centre of Excellence & STCs shall be suspended till further order,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) has asked all its officials and employees to work from home from Wednesday to combat the virus which has infected more than 1,50,000 people worldwide and claimed more than 7,000 lives.
Earlier, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and All India Football Federation (AIFF) had instructed their employees to work from home on Monday.
“We have decided to take the work-from-home route from tomorrow. Some logistics needed to be sorted and that would be done by today. We will review the situation after a week and take a call on how long to continue with it after that,” BFI Executive Director RK Sacheti was quoted as saying by PTI.
“If the situation remains the same, then work from home would be extended till end of March,” he added.
“Unless absolutely necessary, employees won’t come to office from tomorrow given the health crisis. Hope it passes quickly and we can resume normal operations,” he went on to add.
However, the national federations of weightlifting and athletics have gone on record saying that they would continue to work from their respective homes.