IT seems that differences in vaccination certificates and quarantine regulations between Indian and British governments has spilled over to the hockey turf with England announcing its withdrawal from the Junior World Cup − to be held in Bhubaneswar, India in November – and India pulling out its men’s and women’s teams from the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England next year.
Both governments cited the mandatory 10-day quarantine imposed on foreign travellers from the respective country as one of the key reasons for the decision, which curiously came a day apart from each other.
Despite Hockey India saying that the participation of its teams in the Commonwealth Games was ‘doubtful’ because of its proximity to the Asian Games − hours after the Indian government said in a media release that the men’s team was ‘likely to participate’ in the tournament − a letter sent yesterday to Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president, Narinder Batra, from Hockey India chief, Gyanendro Ningombam, cited that ‘discriminatory restrictions’ that are ‘biased against India’ are additional reasons to pull out of the Games.
Hockey India also said they did not want to ‘risk’ the players’ health by claiming that ‘over the last 18 months, England has been the worst affected country in Europe’ with regards to the pandemic.
In his letter to Narinder, Gyanendro wrote: ‘It is pertinent to mention that due to the ongoing Covid-19 situation, England have issued guidelines that 10 days quarantine is required (for) Indian arrivals in England even for those who are fully vaccinated, since unfortunately Indian vaccinations are not yet recognised by the English government.’
‘Such discriminatory restrictions were not imposed on Indian athletes and officials during the recent Tokyo Olympic Games and this 10 days’ quarantine requirement for vaccinated sportspersons will affect their performances. We feel these restrictions are biased against India and term it as very unfortunate.’
Hockey England, who had announced their withdrawal from the Junior World Cup − to be held from November 24 to December 5 – on Monday, said in a statement: ‘…with a number of Covid-related concerns in place, and with player and staff wellbeing in mind, it has become untenable for our team to participate. We note that on Friday the Indian government announced a mandatory ten-day quarantine for all UK nationals’.
At this point, it is pertinent to note that India and Britain have been locked in a tiff over vaccination certificates and quarantine requirements for each other’s nationals.
Although UK have relaxed some restrictions on travellers from India, it has maintained a mandatory 10-day quarantine requirement but according to reports, the British authorities had also raised concerns over India’s vaccination certificate format, which led to fully vaccinated travellers from India being treated as unvaccinated. As a result of this, the Indian government announced similar restrictions on travellers from Britain in a tit-for-tat travel curb.
When contacted, Narinder said the decision not to compete in the Commonwealth Games is final even though it is still nine months away.
“Even England pulled out (of the Junior World Cup) when there are almost 60 days to go. Asian Games are important for us and will take place immediately after the Commonwealth Games. We do not know what kind of conditions will be put on us at that stage, so we don’t want our players to be under any kind of stress before the Asian Games,” Narinder said.
Narinder and Hockey India have maintained that they will be prioritising the Asian Games, which begins in Hangzhou, China, on September 10 − a little over a month after the Commonwealth Games concludes − ahead of the Commonwealth Games as hockey gold medallists at the Asian Games are confirmed of an Olympic berth. For the women’s team, the schedule would have been even tighter had they taken part in the Birmingham Games as the World Cup is scheduled to be held in Spain from July 1 to 17. – Agencies, October 6, 2021
