Hockey India Makes it Mandatory for All Players to Have Aarogya Setu App to Track Covid-19 Cases

Hockey India has made it mandatory for all hockey players and the staff of its member associations to have the Aarogya Setu app on their mobile phones in order to participate in any of the tournaments organised in the future.

Aarogya Setu app is government's coronavirus tracker and Hockey India, in its 20-page guidelines to state units, has said the app will help them keep track of the players' health and only those 'safe' or 'low risk' will be allowed to take part, Indian Express reported.

"Before leaving for the upcoming event, all players and staff must review their status on 'Aarogyasetu' and travel only when the app shows 'safe' or 'low risk' status," the document states.

According to the document as stated by the Indian Express, Hockey India has listed out instructions to be followed as and when training and tournaments resume. These instructions include: playing 5-a-side hockey matches on a full-length pitch, training in small groups and with the same set of players at all times, arriving at the ground dressed and ready to train, cleaning and sanitising the balls, and identifying areas to isolate a person who shows symptoms of coronavirus.

"Full pitch could be divided into 4 parts, and maximum of 3-4 players could use each part at a time with minimum of 1 meter space between each player," the document reads. "The same set of 3-4 player(s) should train together at all times to avoid any spread of infection if incase anyone is affected at some point."

Hockey India has further said that during a training session, only players and staff will be allowed and not even the groundmen. The players have been advised to bring their own water bottles and ensure nobody else touches it.

Regarding the spectators, the document says, "Ideally spectator seating should be arranged in a way that there's 1 meter distance between each spectator."

The report also said that the men's and women's national teams are set to have an e-meeting with Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju to speak about the resumption of their training.