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 possibility of this withdrawal arose a few weeks back when the IOA President said that HI had indicated to him that it was more keen on players being in top form for the Asian Games which is a qualifier for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Sources in the sports ministry had stated that efforts would be made to persuade HI to send second-string teams instead of pulling out altogether. 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.