All members of the men's and women's hockey teams will be in self-isolation as a precautionary measure for at least this week after the COVID-19 related death of a cook inside the SAI premises in Bengaluru.
It looked like the two Tokyo-bound teams would resume training this week or the next, but after the death, they have been ordered to remain in their rooms at least till May 29.
The hockey teams had not come in contact with the cook at any point in time. Yet, it's now expected that they won't train on the turf till next week.
In the weeks after the first lockdown was initiated, members of both teams were allowed the use of the athletics track to jog and do distance running. That's now been scrapped, in fact, the only time they can leave their rooms is to go to the canteen for eating.
However, it's learnt that the cook's death hasn't had any negative effect on the campers themselves.
The latest setback could hamper the preliminary preparations of both the sides ahead of the Olympics next year.
It's no secret that Netherlands and Belgium have already resumed training in small batches and they could well organise matches against themselves. With the Bundesliga resuming, it is expected that the German hockey team could restart their own preparations before playing matches against other European outfits.
What could further dent the Indian men's and women's players is the lack of official matches this year. It's possible they could go through the rest of the year without playing in a single tournament if and when the Asian Hockey Federation officially decide to cancel the Asian Champions Trophy (the women's meet is in Korea, with the men heading to Bangladesh).
The AHF has already unofficially said both those meets could be postponed to next year. In such a scenario, the teams may look at inviting a few Asian teams to the SAI centre in Bengaluru for a couple of friendly matches. But in a post-COVID-19 world, nobody knows how that will work out or what quarantine rules will be at play.
Meanwhile, members of both teams were looking into the possibility of going home for a few days but their plea was shot down by authorities last week. It's reliably learnt that a representation was made to officials but their request was rejected because they could stand to lose close to a month because of the current quarantine regulations and restrictions on interstate travel.
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