Low-risk Sports Resume But Football Remains Banned
The Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC) has announced sport codes now permissible under the relaxed coronavirus lockdown regulations.
While cricket, athletics, swimming and golf, among others, have been given the green light to resume, football, by far the country’s most popular sport, remains banned.
Commenting on the latest development, sportscaster Mike Madoda described the continued ban of football as the weaponisation of the coronavirus. He wrote on Twitter:
The weaponization of Covid? Social gatherings of up to 50 permitted and yet athletes cannot return to training? Our PSL and D1 clubs have no more than 40 people at a training session and that’s deemed risky? Seems there’s a bigger game at play here.
In a statement on Wednesday, the SRC said it had been notified by the Minister of Sport, Kirsty Coventry that low-risk sport codes may resume their activities following National and World Health Organisation guidelines. The statement read:
Pursuant to Cabinet approval and the publication of Statutory Instrument 61 of 2021 this Wednesday, 3rd March 2021, as read with Statutory Instrument 200 of 2020, the Sports and Recreation Commission (‘SRC’) advises that it has now been formally notified by the Minister of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation (‘the Minister’) that the following National Sports Associations (‘NSAs) may resume their activities as outlined in their previously approved COVID-19 protocols taking into account National and World Health Organisation guidelines.
… If any of the … activities are played at a sports club, bars and changing rooms are to remain closed and any available restaurants authorized to operate are to only accept take-away orders.
The sports codes are as follows:
- Archery
- Angling
- Cricket
- Equestrian
- Polo
- Shooting
- Swimming
- Woodball
- Aquatics
- Bass
- Cycling
- Rowing
- Polocrosse
- Tennis
- Triathlon
- Horse Racing
- Badminton
- Athletics
- Chess
- Drafts
- Golf
- Motor Sport
- Lawn Bowls
- Table Tennis
