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The Karnataka government on Monday allowed the opening of sports complexes and stadiums in the states but without spectators.

The Karnataka government on Monday gave a green signal for reopening of stadiums and sports arenas across the state after they have been shut down for 5 months in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

However, the public will not be allowed and the stadiums and sports complexes will only be used for training purposes by athletes.

The training must also be done at the sporting avenues behind the closed doors.

The Karnataka government’s decision comes as a major relief to the athletes in the state who are struggling to get top notch training facilities amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Karnataka has registered a total of 277,707 total cases of coronavirus as of August 24. The active cases in the state remain to be 73,534. A total of 149,613 people have been recovered from the deadly virus.

The novel coronavirus has claimed the lives of 4,338 people in the state till now.

The Ministry of Home Affairs has allowed the reopening of sports facilities in May itself during the fourth phase of the lockdown but the central government has put a bar on spectators arriving at the facilities.

The Sports Authority of India has been giving green signals to the Olympic bound athletes to begin their indoor training across various disciplines. Last week, the Sports Authority of India has said that the national training camp for the archers will commence from August 25 in Pune.

To gear up for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020, the Chennai Super Kings made the use of training facilities at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chepauk behind the closed doors.

The Sports Authority of India has decided to start all the sports activities in all the stadiums in the National Capital, Delhi from May 26, 2020. However, the Shyam Prasad Mukherjee swimming complex has not been reopened as there was no permission to reopen the swimming pools as per the orders from the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Initially, the MHA allowed the resumption of the sporting disciples where no contact would be required among the players and where the minimal sharing of the equipment will be required.

Accordingly, archery, table tennis, badminton, lawn tennis have been given the permission to resume at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium.

Sporting activities have been resuming across the globe behind the closed doors. Live action in front of the empty stands has become the new norm across the world owing to the pandemic.

While some sporting authorities are experimenting with virtual audiences, only a handful of countries have allowed spectators.

By Gayatri Yellayi