Hockey India withdraws from 2022 Birmingham CWG; cites Covid concerns, discriminatory quarantine rules

• India on Tuesday pulled out of next year’s Birmingham Commonwealth Games’ hockey competition, citing Covid-19 concerns and UK’s discriminatory quarantine rules for travellers from the country, a day after England’s withdrawal from the junior men’s World Cup in Bhubaneswar over similar reasons.

• Hockey India President Gyanandro Ningombam communicated the federation’s decision to Indian Olympic Association (IOA) President Narinder Batra in a letter.

• Hockey India reasoned that there is only a 32-day window available between the Birmingham Games (July 28-August 8) and the Hangzhou Asian Games (September 10-25).

• HI said it can’t risk sending its players to the UK, which has been one of the worst affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

• “You will appreciate that the Asian games is the Continental qualification event for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games and keeping the priority of the

• Asian Games in mind, Hockey India can not risk any members of the Indian teams contracting Covid-19 during the Commonwealth Games,” Ningombam wrote.

• “Therefore, Hockey India will not be sending its men and women teams to Commonwealth Games 2022 and are informing you in advance to kindly notify the Organisers to identify reserve teams.”

• The UK recently refused to recognise India’s Covid-19 vaccination certificates and imposed a 10-day hard quarantine on travellers from the country even if they were fully vaccinated.

• The discrimination was prominently mentioned in Ningombam’s letter to the IOA President, who has issued instructions for co-ordination with the sport’s world governing body FIH for the details of the reserve teams. Batra heads the FIH as well.

• “Such discriminatory restrictions were not imposed on Indian athletes and officials during the recent Tokyo Olympic Games and this 10-day quarantine requirement for vaccinated sports persons will affect their performance,” Ningombam stated.

• “We feel these restrictions are biased against India and term it as very unfortunate,” he said.

• HI’s move comes a day after England pulled out of the junior World Cup to be held in Bhubaneswar next month, citing a number of Covid-related concerns and taking “note” of the Indian government’s mandatory 10-day quarantine protocol for all UK nationals.

• India imposed reciprocal curbs on all British nationals arriving in the country after the UK’s steadfast refusal to reconsider its restrictions.

• Under India’s new norms, all British nationals arriving here from the UK, irrespective of their vaccination status, will have to produce the result of the RT-PCR test done within 72 hours before travel.

CONCLUSION

• They will also have to undertake two more RT-PCR tests, one on their arrival at the airport in India and the second one on Day 8 after arrival.

• Both the Indian men’s and women’s teams reached the medal rounds in the 2018 Gold Coast CWG but lost to England in the bronze play-offs. The men’s team was beaten 1-2 while the women team lost 0-6 to England.

• The Birmingham CWG would have been the first big event for both the teams after their inspirational performances at the Tokyo Games, where the men’s team won a bronze while the women finished a creditable fourth.