Dhenkanal: The COVID-19 outbreak in Dhenkanal district has rendered professional athletes as well as budding sportspersons depressed.
They see a bleak future pertaining to their respective careers, a report said.
Following imposition of a series of lockdown restrictions, most sportspersons have failed to carry out regular practice for over five months with the stadium at Dhenkanal town wearing a deserted look.
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If this precarious situation persists, it could badly hamper the future of sports in Dhenkanal district. For the fear of spread of COVID-19, sportspersons neither go out nor are able to practice at their respective homes, some coaches opined.
Notably, with the efforts of erstwhile Chief Minister Nandini Satpathy, the stadium at Dhenkanal town was built in 1976, in order to promote sporting activities in the district.
However, sportspersons of outdoor games have been suffering the most in Dhenkanal amid the pandemic.
A mini stadium in this town has inadequate infrastructural facility for regular practice purposes. Sporting events which were earlier being conducted every year are now halted.
Reacting to this, District Sports Association president Nalini Kumar Das said, “District as well as state level football championships could not be conducted this year due to the COVID-19 outbreak in Dhenkanal. Opening the stadium for public use seems like a remote possibility.”
On being contacted, local coach Abhijeet Mishra said, “Physical fitness is very much essential for sportspersons. Both the state government and district administration should be proactive.”
Giving his views, local sportsperson Manoj Patnaik said, “State and district level sportspersons are being badly affected due to lockdown restrictions. It is destroying the future of budding players.”
PNN