“We are all committed to bringing back the badminton action.”
The Badminton Association of India (BAI) has requested the Government of India to relax some of the quarantine protocols for foreign players who will be travelling to India Open in March. The move is to encourage foreign players to participate in the tournament set for March 30 – 4 April.
The tournament is an opportunity to gain Olympic qualifications points and it will be the first international tournament hosted by India after the Covid-19 pandemic hit the world.
The General Secretary of the BAI said that the government’s sports ministry has responded positively to the request. He added that the tournament is an Olympic qualifier and relaxing the quarantine protocols would be beneficial for both national and international participants.
As quoted by the TOI, the General Secretary said, “I have explained in our letter of request to the honourable sports minister the importance of India Open as this will be an Olympic qualifier where top shuttlers from the world will be keen to participate only if the quarantine rules are relaxed.
“As per the current international norms, a 72-hour prior test and Covid negative certificate are made mandatory instead of 14 days of institutional quarantine… We are all committed to bringing back the badminton action.”
He continued that the BAI was expecting a favourable decision from the government regarding the matter.