new delhi indian olympic association ioa has drawn up a contingency plan for the countrys tokyobound sportspersons if they test positive upon arrival in japan or during the duration of the multisport spectacle toi has learned that ioa has made arrangements in tokyo for emergency purposes in case any indian athlete reports positive for covid19 during hisher daily round of testing these athletes preferably asymptomatic will be isolated and quarantined in service apartments booked nearby the games village by the ioa as per the protocols laid down by the japanese health departmentthe games organising committee oc would be requested to allow such indian athletes to isolate at these facilities in a homely environment for symptomatic athletes it would be best left to the oc to take a reasonable callmeanwhile the countrys premier athletes and squad members who have been training abroad in different locations like zagreb shooters russia bajrang punia poland vinesh phogat portugal neeraj chopra and usa mirabai chanu have been encouraged by the sports authority of india sai to remain stationed at their respective training bases till the beginning of the games and travel directly to tokyo to minimise the risk of catching covid19 during transit through airportsdue to the second surge of covid 19 in india athletes missed out on international competitions in april however as things opened up the federations and sai jointly decided to send athletes abroad for training and competition exposure efforts have been made to plan the international exposure trips in a way that athletes can stay in one country for a good length of time and travel directly to tokyo for the olympics from there this decision was taken to reduce the risk of exposing them to infection during transit through airports which may happen if they travel back and forth from their international destinations sai director general sandip pradhan told toitravelling from one country to another also makes it necessary for athletes to observe quarantine in both countries which means that they will lose out on their training schedule at this crucial juncture some federations are planning international exposures for their athletes in june we have suggested to them to check the feasibility of creating travel plans such that athletes go for training and competition abroad and go straight to tokyo from there he addedseveral olympicbound athletes are already training abroad and are getting full support from the sai in terms of funds to stay and train abroad as well as vaccination support abroad