Omicron may jeopardise preparation for major international events

KARACHI: The Omicron variant of coronavirus is a potential threat to the country’s preparation for major international sports events this year.

For last year’s Tokyo Olympics, Pakistan did not adopt any specific policy to prepare the athletes in a bio-secure environment. Although, the government had announced that a bio-secure environment had been created at the Pakistan Sports Complex in Islamabad ahead of the Tokyo Games, very few players opted to train there. And some major stakeholders did not even consider that as a bio-secure environment.

Keeping in view this serious issue it would be very important this time to adopt a strategy to keep the athletes in bio-secure and centralised camps for the forthcoming Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and Islamic Games.

The country’s leading players want centralised camps in Islamabad where a bio-secure environment could be created in order to ensure safety of the athletes ahead of the important assignments.

“It will be extremely important to hold centralised camps in Islamabad at a bio-secure environment. It will help the athletes avoid any potential threat to their health and they will solely focus on their training for major assignments,” a major Pakistan player told ‘The News’ when contacted.

A senior official of a very influential federation told ‘The News’ that centralised camps were very important as players of various disciplines could find themselves in a disciplined environment. “And I must say that centralised camps for major events this year should be held in Islamabad. It would be a plus point if a bio-secure bubble was also created. It would also be easy for the Board to monitor training closely,” the federation official said.

These days some federations have set up camps on their own at various places and some are being backed by the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB). Although, PSB’s top officials claim that the Board had advised the federations to hold camps and that the Board would back them. But during interaction with some federations by this correspondent it was learnt that some federations want the Board to communicate with them in black and white that the Board would back their camps.

When a senior official of the PSB was contacted he said that the PSB is monitoring the situation of the fast-spreading Omicron. “We are monitoring the situation and by February things will become clear. If there is a need to hold centralised camps in a bio-secure environment in Islamabad then we definitely will opt that,” the official said.

But the big issue is that the facilities in the Pakistan Sports Complex Islamabad are being renovated and repaired keeping in view the preparations for the South Asian Games. And it has been learnt that the work will be completed in June. However, the PSB official said that still camps could be possible at the complex.

“Yes the renovation process will take some time but if we feel that it is necessary to hold centralised camps in Islamabad then those can be held. We will manage that,” the official said. But a big issue is that Pakistan Sports Complex Islamabad direly needs more equipment for some disciplines if the authorities are to provide an efficient training environment.

“Most of the equipment at the Pakistan Sports Complex Islamabad is outdated or does not even meet the training requirements. As Pakistan is going to host the South Asian Games next year it is important to purchase modern equipment for various disciplines now. It will help the athletes to prepare for the Commonwealth Games, Asian Games, Islamic Games also and then such equipment will also be utilised in the South Asian Games,” a federation official said.

England is going to host the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham from July 28 to August 8. China will host the Asian Games from September 10-25 in Hangzhou. The Islamic Games, already announced in August in Konya, Turkey, are expected to be rescheduled sometimes this year keeping in view the packed international calendar.

Meanwhile, a PSB official said that the Board would only back potential medal-winners during the coming events. The PSB plans to keep the camps, once initiated, alive until the South Asian Games for which the venues are yet to be finalised due to lack of proper communication between the state and Pakistan Olympic Association (POA).