Sports Authority Of India Issues Advisory To National Sports Federations On Coronavirus

The Government has advised all National Sports Federations to exercise caution while planning foreign competitions and training for the teams and individual athletes in the light of the importance of some of these competitions which contribute to Olympic qualification.

Sports Authority of India

New Delhi: The Coronavirus outbreak has had severe consequences and repercussions across the globe. 2020 is a very important year in the world of sports with the Olympics set to take place in Tokyo, Japan in July and August.

However in light of the outbreak of the Coronoavirus in several countries in the world, including some reported cases in India, the Government has advised all National Sports Federations to exercise caution while planning foreign competitions and training for the teams and individual athletes in the light of the importance of some of these competitions which contribute to Olympic qualification. A copy of the advisory has been sent to all the NSFs.

An excerpt from the advisory issued to all NSFs reads: While the government understands the criticality of ranking tournaments and Olympic qualifiers, you would understand that the health of our athletes takes precedence. Therefore we would like to request the NSFs to adhere by the World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) had issued its own health advisory on the Coronavirus on 19th February.