With the coronavirus outbreak bringing all sports activities to a halt in the country, Sports Minister KirenRijiju on Monday urged the athletes to not lose spirit and keep working hard to stay battle ready for competitions.
The COVID-19 pandemic, which has claimed over 6,000 livesand infected close to 160,000 people worldwide, has led to the cancellation orpostponement of all sporting events across the globe.
“Due to coronavirus, sporting events and competitionsare postponed temporarily but I appeal all our athletes not to lose the spirit,keep practicing and focus on your training,” Rijiju wrote on his twitterhandle.
The government last week imposed travel restrictions tocontrol the spread of the virus, while the Sports Ministry also urged allnational federations to follow the Health Ministry’s advisory and avoid largegatherings in sports events.
Following the directives, the three-match ODI series againstSouth Africa was called off, while the 13th edition of the Indian PremierLeague (IPL), which was due to start on March 29, was suspended till April 15.The shooting World Cup and Indian Open Golf waspostponed, while badminton’s India Open was also deferred after Badminton WorldFederation (BWF) suspended all World Tour and sanctioned events, owing to theoutbreak of the deadly disease.