PSL Covid-19 guidelines in two weeks

Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter
THE Premier Soccer League (PSL) medical committee’s report setting guidelines for the safe return to training will be ready in a fortnight.

The medical committee is chaired by the Zifa head of medical committee Edward Chagonda and has experienced Zimbabwe Olympic Committee medical commissioner Nicholas Munyonga.

The team of doctors was assigned to draw protocols and procedures to be followed by clubs for the safe return of football activity after the Covid-19 lockdown.

Chagonda said the document they are working on will be submitted to the Government through the Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC).

The guidelines for safe return to training will also be in line with the guiding document that Fifa prepared.

“The document is work in progress and will be ready in two weeks. The return to action will be determined by the Government and what the document seeks to address is to find safe ways for a return which is peculiar to our country. You will note that in Europe, their protocols are different from ours and hence the need to have our own guidelines which still satisfy prescribed health standards,” said Chagonda.

The PSL said following the disruption of football activities as a result of the outbreak of Covid-19, they are working on plans to ensure a safe environment when the Government lifts the ban on sporting activities.

Sporting activities have been banned since the end of March when the national lockdown came into effect as part of measures to contain spread of Covid-19.

Last month the Government allowed non- contact sports in which physical distancing is possible to resume on condition that they adhere to strict safety rules.

Top European leagues have resumed under strict health guidelines to ensure safety of players and officials.

Germany’s Bundesliga is playing its remaining matches behind closed doors and this is the route that the English Premiership (EPL) is likely to follow.

The top leagues resolved to return to action to reduce losses they would have incurred had their programmes ended abruptly.

The top leagues signed broadcasting deals that are a major source of revenue for clubs.

EPL clubs unanimously voted to return to training. The first stage of the strict protocols of ‘project restart’ permits clubs to resume fitness programmes in small groups.

Clubs were reminded that they must adhere to strict rules during the coronavirus pandemic, including maintaining social distancing and no contact between players.

They agreed that “full consultation will now continue with players, managers, clubs and the PFA as protocols for full-contact training are developed”.

Protocols sent to clubs stated that all playing surfaces and equipment should be disinfected before and after each training session.

Players in the EPL must also undergo Covid-19 testing twice a week and daily temperature checks.

The EPL also said in the first phase, players will train in groups of five on one pitch and at any given time they will have 10 players on two pitches.

With Zimbabwean clubs renting facilities to train, it will be difficult for them to practise in smaller group.

In South Africa, Safa established a Joint Liaison Committee task team to assess the feasibility for the return of football in South Africa, and the six-member team has already reported back to both the country’s FA and PSL, who then adopted their report in the presence of Minister of Sport Nathi Mthethwa.

In mid-Apil, Safa set two conditions that will make it possible for the return of all football activities in South Africa: The government should declare that it is safe to do so and that domestic flights are reinstituted.

But Safa has made it clear that if football returns, then extreme measures should be taken, including the use of masks and gloves by kit managers and sterilisation of soccer balls, among other things, by all the relevant parties.

In Zimbabwe, clubs are already struggling to pay salaries and most are unlikely to meet European or South African leagues.

The pressure for European and South Africa’s leagues is to finish their campaigns and avoid losses that they may incur due to cancelations.

They have committed to playing in empty stadiums, something that local clubs can’t afford, as they rely on gate takings to cushion their coffers. —@ZililoR