The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) announced on Monday that it will suspend its Men and Women Tokyo Olympics training camps which were being held in Sonepat and Lucknow respectively due to escalation of Coronavirus outbreak. Both the camps have been shut until March 31.
“We have decided to suspend the camps for both Men and Women as a precautionary measure to contain the deadly virus,” WFI Assistant Secretary Vinod Tomar told WrestlingTV.
“We have asked all the wrestlers to return home. The camp will be suspended until March 31,” he added.
Ever since the outbreak of the pandemic globally, many Indian wrestlers have been reluctant to join the camp over COVID-19 fear.
“Only six to seven wrestlers are currently in the camp. Most of the wrestlers are worried about the current situation and henceforth are reluctant to join the camp,” a prominent member of the coaching staff told WrestlingTV.
One of the Indian women wrestlers who was supposed to attend the camp said: “ever since the Asian Championships concluded, most of the grapplers have not returned citing Coronavirus fear”.
“I have also decided to return home as there are no sparring partners which is hampering my training. I am training at my home Akhara now,” she added.
Earlier, Sports Authority of India (SAI) had shut its Bengaluru facility. The Indian sports authority had also decided to cut short Vinesh Phogat’s training camp at Norway.
The 25-year-old has already booked her Tokyo berth in 53kg, courtesy of her performance at 2019 World Championship. She was training for the Summer Games at Norway but was called back early on March 13 – originally was scheduled to return on March 17 – as a safety measure against COVID-19.
United World Wrestling (UWW) had also postponed its Olympic Qualifiers in the wake of the fast-spreading virus.
Many other sporting events have also been postponed or cancelled due to the global pandemic. While the Indian Premier League has been moved to April 15, Badminton World Federation (BWF) decided to suspend all tournaments between March 16 to April 12 due to the current situation.
