It took more than seven months for competitive sporting action to finally resume in India, with the All India Football Federation (AIFF) taking the lead by hosting the Hero I-League Qualifiers 2020. The tournament got underway in West-Bengal on October 8, 2020. It features five teams competing over 10-games in 11 days for the lone spot to get into the Hero I-League 2020-21 season, effectively now the Tier-2 League in Indian Football.
While due credit needs to be given to the AIFF, seven-months and counting is a long time to stay away from competition and it will take at least six more months from resumption for players to get into top gear.
Take the IPL for example. The generous dollops of extra-flab on some players have been topics of banter and internet chatter in recent times. Although the four football teams on show on October 8th appeared relatively better-off, but that is probably due to the different nature of the sport as compared to T20 cricket.
Meanwhile, crowds have begun to be allowed in international sporting arenas all across the globe. Bundesliga has allowed it. The European Super Cup game between Bayern Munich and Sevilla was played in front of a 10,000 strong crowd. Even the French Open Tennis major is currently underway with restricted crowd entry. Over across in Japan as well, restricted spectator entry has been allowed in baseball and football and Pennsylvania state in the US as of today has allowed crowds of up to 7,500 back in their stadiums. Plans are also afoot in countries like Australia and England.
Meanwhile international sporting action is also increasing by the day. The Denmark Open resumes international badminton action from October 13 with four Indians- Kidambi Srikanth, Shubhankar Dey, Lakshay Sen and Ajay Jayaram competing. There has also been two world records smashed in Atheletics when Letesenbet Gidey of Ethiopia and Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda broke the Women's 5000m and the Men's 10,000m records quite comfortably in a meet in Valencia, Spain. Formula 1, Moto GP, Cycling, Basketball, Golf and Chess are some of the other sports that continue to see top level competition.
Which begs the question as to what about the others? When will popular Olympic sports like Archery Shooting, Hockey, Volleyball, Wrestling, Weightlifting, Boxing, Table Tennis, Swimming, Rowing, Equestrian etc. resume? When will any sporting action apart from the Football, begin in India? Not all are contact sports. Is there a date? Is there a roadmap? No one even asks the questions nowadays. Least of all, the players, who should be the primary losers.
