Courtesy: FirstSportz
Indian athletes will be adequately vaccinated and checked before leaving for the Olympics, Indian Olympic Association President Narinder Batra promised on Friday. According to Batra, the IOA will write to the government to request that the 12-14 week interval between two Covishield injections be relaxed, given many athletes have only received one jab.
“Athletes can’t wait for such a long time to get their second jab. We will write to the government to reduce the period for the athletes so that they are fully vaccinated when they reach Tokyo” said Batra.
In the event of a coronavirus outbreak, logistics will be a critical component of both the IOA and the government. Many of the athletes who will compete in Tokyo have travelled abroad to prepare or compete. Given the rigorous criteria imposed by the hosts, the 10A will have to ensure that all athletes are tested negative before travelling to Tokyo. According to Batra, the IOA has worked successfully with the federations and athletes.
He mentioned that they have been in touch with the federations and the coordination has gone really smoothly. There are some athletes, like the shooting contingent, who will be reaching Tokyo directly from Croatia. There are many others who will reach the destination from their respective training points. And then some will leave for Tokyo from India.
No matter where the players are, they will be tested and board the flight safely to Tokyo. Since some sports are yet to close the qualification process, they will get the exact number of qualified athletes by June 3.
When it comes to the Olympics, India has seen more officials than athletes go. Batra, on the other hand, believes that the 10A sends officials in accordance with the IOC’s procedures.
“The IOC gives accreditation as per the number of athletes qualified for the Games. I don’t agree that there are more officials than athletes. In the past, many officials have gone by getting tickets, in a personal capacity, but this time it won’t be possible as only accredited officials will be allowed. Having said that, we will have to send the officials from the sports that will be sending their athletes” Batra said.