Australia all-rounder Glenn Maxwell isn't too happy with the way the South Australian Government has decided that the South Australian athletes who have returned from the Olympics will undergo another period of quarantine after completing the hotel quarantine that the whole Australian Olympic Team is undergoing in Sydney.
Taking to Twitter, Maxwell wrote: "This is actually disgusting. What a way to treat our olympians who represented us so well."
Australia won 46 medals at the Tokyo Olympics which included 17 gold medals. They finished sixth on the table with USA topping the list at 113 medals which includes 39 gold medals.
As per olympics.com.au, the South Australian Government has chosen to impose a further mandatory quarantine period when South Australian athletes return from hotel quarantine in Sydney, effectively inflicting a 28 quarantine period for athletes at a time of mental and emotional vulnerability.
South Australia is the only state to do this. There are 56 team members returning to South Australia with 16 currently quarantined in Sydney.
AOC Chief Executive Officer Matt Carroll says the decision flies in the face of the expert medical advice of the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) Chief Medical Officer David Hughes that the mental health of athletes can be severely challenged after returning from a highly constrained Tokyo Games environment into the further isolation of extended lockdown.
"While other countries are celebrating the return of their athletes, we are subjecting ours to the most cruel and uncaring treatment. They are being punished for proudly representing their country with distinction at the Olympic Games," said Carroll.
The AOC wrote formally to the South Australian Chief Medical Officer after weeks of discussions with departmental staff. On Wednesday, the AOC was informed of the decision that the Olympians would be required to home quarantine, on top of the two weeks hotel quarantine just completed.
( With inputs from ANI )
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