India has withdrawn from the Commonwealth Games' hockey competition in Birmingham next year, citing COVID-19 concerns and the UK's discriminatory quarantine laws.
India confirmed the withdrawal of its men's and women's teams, a day after England withdrew out of the Junior World Cup, which will be hosted in Bhubaneswar in November. One of the main reasons for the decision was the mandated 10-day quarantine enforced by both governments on visitors from the other country.
President Gyanandro Ningombam of Hockey India informed Indian Olympic Association President Narinder Batra of the federation's decision. Hockey India reasoned that there is just a 32-day window between the Birmingham Games (July 28-August 8) and the Hangzhou Asian Games (September 10-25), and it couldn't risk sending its players to the United Kingdom, which has been one of the worst-hit by the coronavirus outbreak.
The withdrawal of both teams has left netizens confused as they cannot seem to figure out the actual reason for the decision. While some say that the decision was a fitting 'tit for tat' others say the country is getting swayed with emotions and that it will be the Indian hockey team that has to pay the brunt of it all. There were also some who focused on issues totally unrelated to the politics or the Games.
Have a look at a few reactions:
