- Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju announced that athletes preparing for Olympic preparations should continue as per schedule.
- Kiren Rijiju also sanctioned a Rs 4 lakh towards medical aid for veteran football expert Novy Kapadia.
- BCCI has issued a letter to its employees asking them to work from home, also giving them the freedom to come to the office.
Indian Youth and Sports Minister Kiren RijijuKiren Rijiju announced that only the athletes preparing for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics will be allowed to continue training. The decision comes after Rijiju temporarily suspended all other national camps due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
-- Advertisement --Olympic preparations to continue
Recently, the Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe announced that the preparations for the Olympics will go on as scheduled. The move also has the backing of Chief of the International Olympics Committee,Thomas Bach.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, sporting events all around the world have taken a major hit. There has been an increase in the number of positive cases as well as deaths, and at this time it is very crucial to contain the virus.
-- Advertisement --Kiren Rijiju tweeted this morning; “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 Tokyo 2020” He also further added “Academic training in National Centre of Excellence & CTCs shall be suspended till further order”
This is just a temporary and precautionary step for the safety of our sportspersons. I appeal all our young athletes not to be disheartened. We will resume the academic trainings soon after assessing the situation.#IndiaFightsCorona https://t.co/giSwyN3qXf
— Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) March 17, 2020
He also clarified that there was no ban on national events as long as they will be held without spectators. The Indian Grand Prix series, from which athletes can qualify for the Olympics, is set to start on March 20 without spectators.
Kiren Rijiju on Monday sanctioned a medical aid of RS 4 lakh to veteran football expert Novy Kapadia who has been struggling with serious illness.
BCCI asks employees to WFH
The BCCI has issued a circular to its employees, giving them the freedom to work from home with the option of coming to office. “BCCI head office has issued a circular to the employees to work from home keeping in mind the current coronavirus situation. If any employee wants to come to office voluntarily can come. But the order has been issued for work from home. For the next one week starting tomorrow”