Tokyo Olympics: Discrimination must be addressed, says Kiren Rijiju on COVID-19 restrictions for Indian athletes

New Delhi [India], June 22 (ANI): Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Kiren Rijiju has said "there cannot be any discrimination with any country" as he vowed to address the issue ahead of the Tokyo Olympics.
His remarks came as new regulations were put in place by the Japanese government pertaining to entry conditions to Japan affecting 11 countries including India ahead of the Tokyo Games.
"We got the information from Japan that there are certain concerns... as per the Olympic charter there cannot be any discrimination with any country in the participation for the Olympics," Rijiju said during a virtual press conference on Tuesday.
"If there are rules which are discriminatory to Indians or for that matter any country this has to be addressed. I have already conveyed to IOA to register a formal complaint before the organising committee in Japan, which they already did," he said.
"So if there are rules and regulations which is not good for us as a sports minister I will strongly raise the issue. So matter has come and we had already conveyed, hopefully, there will some right action taken up," he added.
An Olympic Mission Cell has been set up in the Embassy of India in Tokyo, as a single-window node to provide logistic support to the Indian contingent bound for Tokyo Games.
The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has decided to depute maximum additional support staff such as coaches, doctors, physiotherapists, to optimise the performance of the athletes in the upcoming Tokyo Olympics.
"Our Embassy in Japan is also dealing with this matter. So through our Indian embassy and IOA, we are conveying all these concerns," said Rijiju.
A number of Indian athletes are training abroad for more than 30 days and will be travelling directly to Tokyo. The countries where they are training are not on the list of the 11 countries that have these new additional conditions.
The sports minister also informed that vaccination for Tokyo-bound athletes have been carried in a "smooth manner".
"Initially we faced some difficulty for the athletes who are already training outside as countries have their own rules and regulations," said Rijiju while replying to a query from ANI.
"But we have handled the situation carefully and whether in India or abroad the vaccination has been carried in a very smooth manner," he added.
Tokyo Olympics will begin on July 23 and the Games will run up to August 8 this year. The event was slated to be held last year, but it was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (ANI)