BCCI issues SOP for resumption of domestic cricket, local administration's nod necessary

India's governing body for cricket, the BCCI on Sunday, August 2 issued Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to all state associations for resuming domestic cricket activities provided the approval is given by local administration. The SOP asks every state associations to appoint a Chief Medical Officer (CMO) to look after the bio-safety guidelines.

As a part of his scope of work, the CMO would start by conducting webinars to educate the stakeholders about the guidelines laid down in the SOP. The medical team of each state's body will be required to take down the medical and travel history of the players and the staff members for the past two weeks with an online questionnaire.

The players and staff members will be required to download the Aarogya Setu app for contract tracing and prevention of COVID-19. 

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As part of the SOP, the BCCI has also clearly stated that "individuals who are over the age of 60 years and those individuals with underlying medical conditions such as diabetes, lung disease, weakened immunity, etc should be considered vulnerable and are believed to have a higher risk of severe Covid-19. All such individuals should be discouraged from participating in the camps."

The SOP also requires players to acknowledge that the state association can not completely eliminate the risk factors despite following all protocols.

The SOP also mentions that players are travelling for associations, then they should be given single occupancy rooms and should be accommodated somewhere close to the ground, besides giving separate bus for the players and staff to travel. The bus shall not be deployed for the use of the general public during no-training hours of players.

(With agency inputs)

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