NEW DELHI: A day after England, citing “a number of COVID-related concerns”, withdrew from the upcoming Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup Bhubaneswar 2021, India confirmed the withdrawal of its men’s and women’s teams from next year’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
While Hockey India cited similar concerns to that of England Hockey as one of the key deciding factors, it bears noting that last month, HI had said the participation of its teams in the CWG was ‘doubtful’ because of the competition’s proximity to the Asian Games, where an Olympic berth is at stake.
But a letter accessed by Indian Express from HI chief Gyanendro Ningombam to Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president Narinder Batra, which was dated Tuesday, October 5, ‘discriminatory restrictions’ that are ‘biased against India’ were cited as an additional reason to pull out of the CWG. Curiously, the announcement came barely a couple of hours after the government said in a media release that the men’s team was ‘likely to participate’ in the tournament.
The CWG are scheduled to take place in Birmingham from July 28 to August 8. With the withdrawal of the hockey teams, India’s participation will be significantly reduced given that shooting and archery, too, are not a part of the Games programme, Indian Express notes.
Hockey India also said they did not want to ‘risk’ the health of the players by claiming that ‘over the last 18 months, England has been the worst affected country in Europe’ with regards to the pandemic.
Ningombam wrote in his letter to Batra: “It is pertinent to mention that due to the ongoing Covid-19 situation, England have issued guidelines that 10 days quarantine is required (for) Indian arrivals in England even for those who are fully vaccinated, since unfortunately Indian vaccinations are not yet recognised by the English government.”
He added: “Such discriminatory restrictions were not imposed on Indian athletes and officials during the recent Tokyo Olympic Games and this 10 days quarantine requirement for vaccinated sportspersons will affect their performances. We feel these restrictions are biased against India and term it as very unfortunate.”
On Monday, Hockey England had announced their withdrawal from the Junior World Cup, which will be held from November 24 to December 5. “…with a number of COVID-related concerns in place, and with player and staff wellbeing in mind, it has become untenable for our team to participate. We note that on Friday the Indian government announced a mandatory ten-day quarantine for all UK nationals,” Hockey England said in a statement.
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