The Sports Ministry has ordered an enquiry into reports that national campers at a SAI centre in Bengaluru were using a broken container for ice bath and also sought a report from the Sports Authority of India, according to a PTI report.
It has been reported that members of the junior Indian hockey team were using a broken plastic water tank for an ice bath at the centre.
“The ministry has ordered an enquiry. After assuming charge as the Sports Minister during his visits to different SAI Centres in the country, Vijay Goel had emphasised the need to upgrade SAI Centres to provide the best facilities to the players practising or getting trained at SAI Centres across India,” a sports ministry official said.
An ice bath therapy or cryo-therapy is a technique used by high-performance athletes to recover faster after intensive workout sessions.
When questioned, SAI officials had revealed that the senior players had used the same plastic tank as well during their camps in Bengaluru. Sports medicine experts have since come out and explained that the effectiveness of the tank is reduced and that it is not hygienic to have many athletes in the bath at the same time.