Image Source: AP (Twitter)
Indian men and women's hockey teams will not participate in the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in 2022. Hockey India President Gyanandro Ningombam made contact with the federation's decision to Indian Olympics Association President Narinder Batra.
Indian hockey teams will focus on peaking at the Asian Games instead of playing in commonwealth games, it'll provide them with a continental berth for the Paris Olympics in 2024. Outstandingly, the Indian men's hockey team made a memorable history at the Tokyo Olympics where they won a bronze medal.
The Indian women's team, Captained by Rani Rampal, reached the semi-final but missed out on a medal by a margin.
The Commonwealth Games in 2022 will start in July and the multi-sport event will be followed by the Asian Games in August.
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"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.
One of the main reason for this decision was because of Covid-19 concerns and the compulsory 10-day quarantine rule in the United Kingdom. The UK recently refused to recognize India''s COVID-19 vaccination certificates and imposed a 10-day hard quarantine on travelers from the country even if they were fully vaccinated.
Hockey India's decision comes a day after England pulled out of the FIH Men's Junior World Cup which will be held in Bhubaneswar in November, mentioning a number of COVID-related cases and taking "note" of the Indian government's mandatory 10-day quarantine protocol for all UK nationals. India imposed reciprocal curbs on all British nationals arriving in the country after UK's restrictions.
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