Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju reiterated the need to bring back on-field sports by the end of this year but admitted it would not be easy given the spread and scope of COVID-19.
On the second day of his online interaction with state sports ministers and officials, Rijiju hoped for a phased resumption of sporting activity, adding that the final decision would rest with the state governments.
“The states will have to independently decide when they can start sports activities and training. However, I would urge all states to start some kind of sporting activities after 2 or 3 months, depending on the situation. We can start in a limited manner and for non-contact sports. Some states have opened up sporting facilities and started training. As the situation improves, we must attempt to bring on-field sport back,” Rijiju said.
Eighteen states and UTs had participated on Tuesday and the remaining joined in on Wednesday. Among those, Delhi, Sikkim, Lakshwadeep, Chandigarh, Goa have already resumed training in non-contact sports.
Jharkhand plans to begin in September, while Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar and Mizoram are in the process of finalising SOPs. Nagaland plans to begin with district-level tournaments in football and indigenous games.
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