In a first, COVID-19 insurance cover for boxers and coaches

NEW DELHI: In a first for athletes in any sports discipline, the country’s elite boxers and coaching staff staff will henceforth be covered by a special COVID-19 health insurance policy for treatment during their stay at the national camp. The policy will cover pugilists, coaches and support staff reporting to camps post the COVID-19 lockdown.

Apart from that, all campers will be separately insured as per camp norms for medical emergencies and accident. The Boxing Federation of India (BFI) unveiled its own set of ‘Standard Operating Procedure’ (SOP) for national campers on Friday and, in the process, became the first national sports federation (NSF) to offer an insurance cover for COVID-19 disease as per the guidelines issued by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA).

“The boxers and coaching staff at the camp will be covered by a basic insurance amount of up to Rs 5 lakh. The top-up amount, which will include the COVID-19 insurance cover, will be anywhere between 50 to 75 percent of the basic policy cover (Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 3.5 lakh). The COVID-19 policy will come into effect as soon the camp becomes operational,” a senior BFI official told TOI.

Apart from introducing the insurance cover in its SOPs, the BFI has also listed certain precautions and protocols to be followed by campers while resuming their training.

The federation has informed that the training of boxers will be initiated “in small groups of three-four” at a given time. High-intensity workout will be discouraged since “it could give rise to relative immunosuppression window of 72 hours where such athlete may be susceptible to viral and bacterial infections, thus further suppressing the immune system”.

All boxers and coaching staff coming from their respective homes/states for the camp will be tested at the entrance of the centre. They will undergo a mandatory quarantine during the period from arrival till test results are obtained, the SOP read.

Source: The Times of India