Planning to restart major sports events in the country, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports recently came up with standard operating procedures (SOP) pertaining to the reopening of sports facilities for such events. According to the SOP formulated by the sports ministry, these facilities will be allowed to organise events at 50 percent of seating capacity.
Organisers of sports competitions in the coming months must create a Covid-19 task force before the event so that the committee can supervise the implementation of Covid-19 safety measures around the venue and screening of individuals before they are allowed to enter the venue.
In a statement issued on January 2, the sports ministry said the SOP had been formulated after discussions with various stakeholders in the sports sector. The sports ministry has strictly ordered the sports venues around the country to hold events in accordance with the Covid-19 regulations as issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
The Covid-19 task force will supervise the monitoring of the participating athletes’ health. Maintaining a virus-free bubble inside the sports venue will be a primary responsibility of the Covid-19 task force. Along with only allowing 50 percent capacities during outdoor events, the SOP also directs the sports venue managers to put up CCTV surveillance to check possibilities of overcrowding at exit and entry points of the venue.
Even though the sports ministry has allowed the organisation of sports events, the final call on the organisation of such events will be taken by local authorities who will grant permission only after an overall assessment of the Covid-19 situation in different localities. Sports events can be organised provided there are no objections raised by a local governing body or such events do not interfere with the orders put in place by the state government for protecting the masses from the deadly virus.
Apart from enforcing safety guidelines and ensuring that the visitors to the venue are appropriately dressed – with personal protection gear such as face masks, gloves and face shields – and adhering to sanitisation and social distancing protocol between spectators, the Covid-19 task force has to ensure that the Aarogya Setu App is installed on the visitors’ phones.
Depending on the risk involved with organisation of a sports event at a certain place, the organising committee is allowed to carry out RT-PCR test on athletes 72 hours before the event. Only those with a negative RT-PCR report should be allowed to participate in the event. The SOP also directs sportspersons from containment zones not to participate in any future sports events until the government has declared their zones of residence as safe from the virus. The ground support staff of such venues have been instructed to operate remotely from home, instead of being physically present on the ground to carry out their duties, when it is not absolutely necessary for them to do so.
With this SOP, the sports ministry has laid down the rules for sports events under the new normal of a post-pandemic world.
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