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Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
HEAD of Zifa and Premier Soccer League (PSL) medical committee Edward Chagonda says in line with international trend, clubs risk having points forfeited if seven or more players test positive for Covid-19.
Chagonda said following last week’s landmark decision which saw South Sudan forfeiting their Arab Cup qualifier against Jordan due to more than seven positive Covid-19 tests among its delegation, the same principle will apply in domestic football if seven or more Covid-19 cases are registered from one club at a time.
He said they are monitoring Covid-19 hotspots, Kariba and Bulawayo, adding that they stand guided by Government through the Ministry of Health and Child Care.
“To be honest, the Kariba and Bulawayo Covid-19 situation is a cause for concern but as PSL we will follow national guidelines. This means that if any of the players or those involved in football test positive, we will do contact tracing.
If there are more than seven cases from one team at one particular time, there are new regulations from Fifa and Caf, that we are signatory to, which means games will be forfeited. So in essence, players and technical teams of clubs must be more cautious. You saw what happened to South Sudan, they had to forfeit points because of a big number of Covid-19 cases,” said Chagonda.
He said they have recommended that if a club has more Covid-19 cases, that particular team will have to frequently test.
“We’re a little bit in a fix but testing helps a lot and we’ve had cases where those who test positive immediately go into isolation. More regular testing will have to be done instead of just once a week if a particular club has more cases. Don’t be surprised to see some clubs being tested after every three days,” said Chagonda.
He encouraged clubs not to allow people that are not involved in games into their team bus or training as that increases the risk of contracting Covid-19. – @Zililo
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