New Delhi: Indian team announced its withdrawal from Birmingham Commonwealth Games’ hockey competition 2022, citing UK’s discriminatory quarantine rules for travellers from India, and Covid concerns of the nation. The decision comes after the withdrawal of England from FIH Men’s 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 on Tuesday pulled out, suggesting similar reasons for its withdrawal from the Commonwealth Championship. Hockey India President Gyanandro Ningombam has passed over the federation’s decision to Indian Olympic Association (IOA) President Narinder Batra, on Tuesday. Hockey India stated that there is only a 32-day window available between Birmingham Games (July 28-August 8) and the Hangzhou Asian Games (September 10-25) and it can’t risk sending its players to the UK, which has been one of the worst affected countries by the Covid 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 cannot risk any members of the Indian team contracting Covid-19 during the Commonwealth Games,’ Ningombam pointed out in the letter.
The UK Government had 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. India had took reciprocal measures, by imposing mandatory 10-day quarantine protocol for all British nationals arriving in the country.
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