As part of the plans to ensure safe and secure Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Thursday announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Pfizer Inc. and its partner BioNTech SE to donate doses of their COVID-19 vaccine to Games participants from National Olympic and Paralympic Committees around the world.

National Olympic Committees (NOCs) will work with their local governments to coordinate local distribution in accordance with each country’s vaccination guidelines and consistent with local regulations. The IOC and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) are working with the NOCs and National Paralympic Committees (NPCs) to encourage and assist their athletes, officials and Games stakeholders residing in their territories to get vaccinated in their home countries in line with national immunisation guidelines, before they go to Japan.

According to the organisers, based on the feedback from the NOCs and NPCs, it is expected that a significant proportion of Games participants will have been vaccinated before arriving in Japan. The new MoU adds to these efforts.

Additional doses delivered by Pfizer and BioNTech will not be taken out of existing programmes, but will be in addition to existing quotas and planned deliveries around the world.

“This donation of the vaccine is another tool in our toolbox of measures to help make the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 safe and secure for all participants, and to show solidarity with our gracious Japanese hosts,” said IOC President Thomas Bach in an official statement.

“We are inviting the athletes and participating delegations of the upcoming Olympic and Paralympic Games to lead by example and accept the vaccine where and when possible. By taking the vaccine, they can send a powerful message that vaccination is not only about personal health, but also about solidarity and consideration of the wellbeing of others in their communities. We would like to thank Pfizer and BioNTech for this very generous donation to support the vaccination of athletes and Games participants ahead of the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020,” he added.

Prof. Ugur Erdener, Chair of the IOC Medical and Scientific Commission, said: “We see the importance of vaccination all around the world. We encourage the athletes and Games participants to take the vaccine whenever possible. Vaccination is an important tool to protect not only themselves, but also their communities.”

During a conversation between Albert Bourla, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Pfizer, and Suga Yoshihide, Prime Minister of Japan, which is the host country of Tokyo 2020, Bourla made an offer to donate the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for athletes and their delegations participating in Tokyo 2020. Following this conversation, the Japanese government had a meeting with the IOC and now the donation plan has been realised.

“With hundreds of millions of vaccines already administered, and hundreds of millions more to go, Pfizer is committed, together with BioNTech, to doing all we can to help end this pandemic and help return the world to a sense of normalcy,” Bourla said.

“The return of the Olympic and Paralympic Games represents a monumental moment of world unity and peace after a gruelling year of isolation and devastation. We are proud to play a role in providing vaccines to athletes and their national Olympic delegations where possible.”

“Providing vaccines to Games participants is one of the critical ways to help ensure the Games are as safe and successful as possible. With more than 430 million doses already delivered, our vaccine continues to help protect lives around the world and bring us back to our normal lives,” said Ugur Sahin, MD, CEO and Co-Founder of BioNTech.

“This year’s Olympic and Paralympic Games are an historic moment representing the global community and how we stand together. We are honoured to be able to contribute the vaccine to support the safety of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.”

The announcement follows the release of the second edition of the Playbooks, which give detailed information and guidelines to the various stakeholder groups participating in the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020.

Indian football stars have leapt into action by offering their respective social media handles in order to amplify distress calls. India International C.K. Vineeth, who is no stranger to helping people in need, has come forward once again, banking on his social media presence to help the needy.

“As a human being, I believe it must be in our nature to help others who are in need. Right now, I feel it’s important to step in and do whatever I can,” Vineeth, popularly referred to as CK, opined.

“Over the years we have managed to build a community of football players, management staff, and supporters on social media, especially Twitter that has grown exceptionally strong despite all the club rivalry. I felt I needed to join in and help — in whatever small way possible,” the Kerala-based striker said.

Apart from the oxygen requirements, blood banks have also appealed to citizens to donate before they get vaccinated. And the nimble-footed winger has urged everyone to come forward and assist in this drive.

“I think it’s increasingly important that those who can donate blood should do so before they get vaccinated. Amidst the second wave, there’s no doubt that there will be a shortage of blood and plasma in the blood banks in the coming months, as more and more people in younger age groups are all set to get vaccinated,” CK averred.

“The period after which a vaccinated person can donate blood is too long, and people need to understand that they can save lives by doing something as simple as visiting a blood bank,” he maintained.

The forward from Kannur had made headlines last year when he was seen working as a volunteer at a Covid-19 helpline centre back home in 2020 during the nationwide lockdown.

“I don’t consider it as ‘social work’,” CK smiled. “I consider it my duty as a citizen to give back to our community that has given me so much over the years. Throughout my career I have realised that I don’t want people to see me as just a footballer, but also as someone who wants to make a difference and aims to affect a change in the mind-set of the community.”

He also urged his fans to come and support each other in every way possible to help them fight the deadly virus.

“What is happening on Twitter is visible. But it’s also equally important that we take care of people who may not have access to social media. Whether it is by calling up one another just to check in on them, looking out for our elderly neighbours who may need help but are scared to venture out, or taking care of animals on the streets during the lockdown — there are so many different ways by which we can make a difference,” he expressed.

“I think it says a lot about the football community that players like Chhetri-bhai, Darren, Sahal, Rino, Robin, Nirmal-bhai and others have come out and have led by example,” he stated.

With the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League postponed, Cricket Australia’s interim Chief Executive Officer Nick Hockley has said that every arrangement is being made to repatriate the Australian contingent as soon as possible. Hockley went on to add that Sri Lanka and Maldives are the two places that have been zeroed in on for the Australian contingent to move to from India before they return home since direct flights from India to Australia have been stopped with an eye on the second COVID-19 wave.

“We’re working on arrangements to repatriate all the players, the support staff, umpires, commentators as quickly and as safely as possible. What we’re working to do and what the BCCI are working to do, and they’ve been incredibly cooperative, is working to move the entire cohort out of India.

“So the BCCI has been working on a range of options. That’s now narrowed down to the Maldives and Sri Lanka. The BCCI are working through the final details of that at the moment and we expect that movement will happen in the next two to three days,” he told reporters on Wednesday. Hockley went on to praise the BCCI and the Indian board’s effort to get the Australian players back to their homes. “I would say the BCCI have been absolutely fantastic. So they’re committed to not only the first movement to either the Maldives or Sri Lanka but they’re also then committed to putting on a charter to bring them back to Australia,” he said.

Asked if Cricket Australia regrets letting the players go for this year’s IPL, Hockley said: “No, I don’t think so. I mean, our hearts go out to everyone in India. Clearly, I mean, I think the IPL, you know, they put so much work, so much effort into putting on the tournament. They obviously did that on the best-available information at the time and they’ve come to the decision over the last 24 hours that it’s in everyone’s — well, in the interests of the health and safety of everyone to suspend the tournament indefinitely. “At the moment — I was on the phone to my counterpart less than an hour ago and I can’t speak more highly for how the BCCI but also all of the franchises have worked to look after our players and put in plans to make sure that they get home safely and as quickly as possible.”Asked if Hockley thinks there’ll be animosity if the players get to fly home in a charter, he said: “The BCCI are putting in place the best-possible arrangements.

We’re not seeking any kind of special exemptions whatsoever. We will — any kind of quarantine arrangements would be over and above the cap. So our main priority is we would work with the Australian Government and the relevant state governments to make sure that we’re not taking spaces of anyone else that’s available. “So, you know, certainly that’s what we’re committed to do. I’d also add to that, that the last 12 months around the globe, we’ve seen all professional athletes travel differently and charter flights maybe two years ago would have seen a different type of commentary than what we would see today. The reality is we’re going to try to keep them as safe as possible and if that’s available to it, I don’t think we should shy away from that.”

India captain Virat Kohli has held on to his fifth spot in the latest ICC Test rankings for batsmen.In the rankings which got updated on Wednesday, Sri Lanka captain Dimuth Karunaratne on Wednesday closed in on a top-10 spot after a successful second Test against Bangladesh in Kandy which his side won by 209 runs to clinch the two-match series 1-0. New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson is currently at the top of the rankings. Karunaratne struck 118 and 66 in the second Test, moving up four slots to 11th position in the list led by Williamson.

Karunaratne’s career-best ranking is sixth, attained in August 2019. He is the top-ranked Test batsman from Sri Lanka with Angelo Mathews next in the list in 24th position.

Niroshan Dickwella (up to four places to 31st), Oshada Fernando (up to 10 places to 58th) and Lahiru Thirimanne (up to 13 places to 60th) are the other Sri Lanka batsmen to advance while left-arm spinner Praveen Jayawickrama’s player of the match haul of 11 for 178, the best figures by a Sri Lankan on Test debut, sees him enter the rankings in 48th position.Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal’s knocks of 92 and 24 have helped him gain three places to reach 27th position while Mushfiqur Rahim and captain Mominul Haque have inched up a slot each to reach 21st and 30th positions, respectively, in the latest rankings. Pakistan fast bowler Hasan Ali’s haul of nine for 89 in the first Test against Zimbabwe in Harare not only won him the player of the match award for starring in the innings victory but also enabled him to gain 15 slots and reach a career-best 20th position among bowlers. Left-arm fast bowler Shaheen Afridi (up to 31st) and left-arm spinner Nauman Ali (up to 12 places to 54th) have also advanced in the list for bowlers while left-handed batsman Fawad Alam continues his fine run, moving up 31 places to a career-best 47th position after scoring 140, his fourth century in 10 Test matches. Abid Ali is up six places to 78th position. For Zimbabwe, Regis Chakabva has gained two slots to reach 97th position while fast bowler Blessing Muzarabani has progressed 26 slots to reach 55th position with figures of four for 73.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has confirmed that eight of the 11 English players who were playing in the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League have returned home after the season was postponed on Tuesday.Speaking to ANI, Danny Reuben — head of team communication for England cricket team — confirmed that while 8 players are back in the UK, the remaining three players are set to leave India in the next 48 hours. “I can confirm that 8 of the 11 England players in India managed to get on a flight to Heathrow last night and have landed this morning.

They will now quarantine in government approved hotels. The remaining three – Jordan, Malan, Morgan – should leave India within the next 48 hours,” he said. Jonny Bairstow (SunRisers Hyderabad), Jos Buttler (Rajasthan Royals), Sam Curran (Chennai Super Kings), Tom Curran (Delhi Capitals), Sam Billings (Delhi Capitals), Chris Woakes (Delhi Capitals), Moeen Ali (Chennai Super Kings) and Jason Roy (SunRisers Hyderabad) are the eight players who arrived in the UK on Wednesday, reported Sky Sports. These eight players will now have to quarantine in government-approved hotels for 10 days, as the UK had listed India as a ‘red list’ country. The remaining three England players in India are — Chris Jordan, Dawid Malan, and Eoin Morgan. Over the course of the last two days, two KKR players Varun Chakravarthy and Sandeep Warrier tested positive for Covid-19. CSK’s bowling coach L Balaji, batting coach Mike Hussey and one bus cleaner also tested positive for the virus.

On Tuesday, SRH’s wicketkeeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha and Delhi Capitals’ Amit Mishra also tested positive for the virus and these cases and the safety of those involved in the league saw the BCCI put an end to the ongoing season of the IPL. The Indian Premier League Governing Council (GC) and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Tuesday, in an emergency meeting unanimously decided to postpone IPL 2021 season, with immediate effect. The BCCI also said that it will do everything in its power to arrange for the secure and safe passage of all the participants in IPL 2021. The BCCI also thanked all the healthcare workers, state associations, players, support staff, franchisees, sponsors, partners, and all the service providers who have tried their best to organise IPL 2021 even in these extremely difficult times.

After a long suffering wave of the Coronavirus pandemic, the massive number of daily cases of deaths and constant struggle for oxygen, hospital beds and medicines are affecting everybody’s life. The Sports events have resumed across the world and exciting time ahead with Tokyo Olympics is set to begin on July 23rd, 2021.

Market in Olympic Games in the middle of a pandemic

International Olympic Committee and Tokyo Olympic organizers are to unveil a new plan of campaign. However, the sports industry will never be the same again.  The Olympic Games are most effective and lucrative international marketing platforms in the world reaching billions of people over 200 nations and territories throughout the world.

Construction of all latest and new permanent venues for deferred Tokyo Olympics and Paralympic 2021 has been completed last year. Only Japan says that it will go ahead with preparations for the Tokyo games as planned. But an unexpected dangerous googly in this case of the COVID virus can derail its usual work without wasting time or resources.

Resistance to Olympics in Tokyo, Japan is still running high with 70 to 80 percent in expressing strong disapproval of Olympics mega-events in recent polls. Now more tests, no quarantine is in updated rules.

Modern Olympics was canceled four times. The Cancellation of the Olympics will cost Japan more than $ 12.6 billion. A year`s postponement now means the addition of billions to keep facilities for sports in specified shapes till the games commence.

A serious challenge is to ensure that much-awaited games do not become international super spreader events. Tokyo can not host guests and crazy spectators as planned earlier. The run risk of sports fans catching physical and mental health as a casualty of coronavirus pandemic and event being suspended midway to attacks. Olympics is large in scale and intensity of strong desire of participation by top athletes, officials, crazy spectators and journalists from all over the world is very high.

(The Writer is a former Associate Professor and consultant of Limca Book of Records. Views are his personal)