The 2020 National Sports Awards will be held via video conferencing due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Sports Ministry said today.

The ceremony is scheduled to be held on Saturday (August 29), and the Ministry said that 65 out of the 74 awardees will be present.

Of the nine award winners who will not attend the virtual ceremony, three have tested positive for Covid-19.

The awards are usually presented by the President at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

This time, however, President Ram Nath Kovind will be connected via a National Informatics Centre (NIC) link from Rashtrapati Bhavan while the recipients will be present at Sports Authority of India (SAI) and NIC centres in various locations across the country, the Sports Ministry said in a statement.

Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju would be present at the Vigyan Bhawan in the national capital for the award ceremony.

"Awardees who are not being able to attend the function from one of the various centres or are not in India on August 29, will be given the award later," said the Ministry.

The programme will be telecast live on Doordarshan..