(Hockey news) India has officially withdrawn from the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham citing United Kingdom’s COVID-19 situation and the mandatory 10 day quarantine as Indian vaccinations are not yet recognized by the English government.
In a statement issued by Hockey India President Gyanandro Ningombam, he reasoned that with the Commonwealth Games taking place from July 28th and August 8th, it will leave only a 32 day window between the CWG and the Asian Games which will begin from 10th to 25th September 2022 in Hangzhou, China. Given that England has been the worst affected country in Europe by COVID-19, Hockey India cannot risk players contracting coronavirus with Asian Games being a continental qualification event for 2024 Paris Olympics on the horizon.
Moreover, the 10 day mandatory quarantine rules will place the Indian hockey teams at a significant disadvantage ahead of the Commonwealth Games and the decision to not recognize Indian vaccines is discriminatory, especially considering that there was no quarantine required for the same athletes before the Tokyo Olympics.
Hockey India’s decision comes one day after England pulled out of the FIH Men’s Junior World Cup in Bhubaneshwar due to COVID-19 concerns and the Indian government's mandatory 10 day quarantine for UK nationals as a reciprocal measure for the English government’s policies. As per the new regulations by India, all United Kingdom nationals have to produce a negative PT-PCR test which has to be conducted 72 hours before arrival and then undertake two more tests, one on arrival and the other eight days later.
