JUST IN: Parliamentary Committee Portfolio on Sport adjourns virtual meeting

THE Parliamentary Committee Portfolio on Sport was forced to adjourn the virtual meeting on sport resumption to a later date after the zoom session experienced serious network challenges.

The Ministry of Youth, Sport, Arts, and Recreation and the Sports Commission were expected to present oral evidence, on their preparedness, to resume sporting activities, in the country before the legislators.

However, a number of officials expected to present were locked out of the zoom meeting amid network challenges.

Few legislators who had managed to access the meeting then proposed to adjourn the meeting and prepare for a physical session observing social distance.

The new date will be advised through the clerk of parliament.

A number of legislators such as Mathias Tongofa, Mbondiah Memory, Trevor Saruwaka, Gift Banda, and Omega Sibanda sit in the parliamentary committee on sport.

Officials from the Sports Commission, including board chairperson Gerald Mlotshwa and acting director-general Sebastian Garikai, were expected to make their presentations and had already joined the meeting before it was canceled.

Ministry’s director of sport, Eugenia Chidhakwa, was also among the officials who were scheduled to make a presentation on the debate of sport resumption.

The Government on Wednesday evening approved 24 low-risk sporting codes to resume their activities taking into consideration national and WHO guidelines.

Other disciplines which last year were classified as high risk, the likes of football, rugby and netball, will have to wait for a bit longer before they are granted permission to return to action.

But a fierce debate has been sparked especially over when domestic football, which has been inactive for close to 14 months, will return.

The football constituency feels hard done by the prolonged inactivity. They believe each term constitutes not more than 30 people and can easily convene training sessions at a time the President has relaxed the lockdown restrictions.

The debate was expected to take centre stage at the virtual meeting but a fresh meeting is likely to take place any day from next week.

Archery, aquatics, badminton, angling, bass, athletics, cricket, cycling, chess, equestrian, rowing, drafts, polo, polocrosse, golf, shooting, tennis, motorsport, swimming, triathlon, lawn bowls, woodball, horse racing, table tennis.