The reopening of stadiums and sports complexes (from May 18) may lead the Indian Sports Federations to begin their plan to resume training of athletes. Sports events remain on the list of prohibited activities.

On Sunday, the Ministry of Home Affairs issued a new set of guidelines that will be followed during the fourth stage of the nationwide lockdown, one of which is the opening of stadiums and sports complexes, but spectators will be barred.

"The sports complexes and stadiums will be allowed to open, but the spectators will not be allowed," said the statement issued by the MAHA agency.

However, one of the guidelines said in the notice published on Sunday that sporting events will continue to ban even in the fourth phase.

The reopening of stadiums and sports complexes from Monday (May 18) may lead to India’s sports federations plan to resume sports, which could pave the way for the resumption of athletic training, which stopped in mid-March. Athletes based at the Indian Sports Authority of India (SAI)  complexes in Patiala and Bengaluru have demanded a resumption of training.

BCCI treasurer Arun Dhumal, said earlier this week that the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bangalore was preparing to be the site of a " post-lockdown regime" for Indian cricket players in the fourth phase of the lockdown.

He said that some "skill-based outdoor exercises" would be the way Indian cricket would start restarting, adding that cricketers such as Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, who are in high-risk areas of Mumbai, will not attend these camps.

Article Source: indianexpress.com