(Pooja Dubey, Intern Journalist) The Sports Authority of India (SAI) has changed the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to deal with the Covid-19 epidemic. According to this, players will have to remain in isolation for 15 days before coming to the national camp for training.
This directive was added to the SOP already released by Sai on Tuesday. A six-member committee, headed by Sai’s secretary Rohit Bhardwaj, prepared the SOP in May to resume sports activities across the country. Accordingly, after five months, practice in boxing, athletics, and badminton has been resumed in the national camps.
According to the statement released by Sai, the new SOP is the sequel to the earlier SOP released by Sai. In this, procedural changes have been made in relation to players joining training camps.
The rules of this SOP will apply to those who join the camp now or later. The SAIK SOP released earlier (in May) included the removal of changing rooms with low ventilation, de-infection of training equipment every time they were used, a ban on ‘sparring’ in addition to gym use in shifts.
The main aspect of the new SOP relates to testing and segregation. Sai said that they would bear the cost of all the Covid-19 tests to be done by athletes, coaches and support staff before joining the training camps. Sai said, ‘All athletes, coaches and support staff will have to undergo RT-PCR test for Covid-19 96 hours before traveling to Sai centers. They will be allowed to enter the center only after presenting a negative report to the investigation.
According to the statement, “If the athlete, coach, or associate member is unable to undergo an investigation for unavoidable reasons before traveling, they will undergo RT-PCR test soon after reaching the center.” Coaches and players will inevitably have to remain in isolation for a week after arriving at the camp. “On the sixth day of the separation period, only players and coaches who come negative in the Covid-19 investigation will be allowed to start sports activities,” they said. “If any athlete, coach, the associate member is found to be Covid-19 positive, the rules laid down by the Government of India, State Government, SASOP and local bodies will be followed.”
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