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Robson Sharuko-Senior Sports Editor
DOMESTIC football has now once again been confronted by the bio-bubble beast as the only way it could be allowed to return, amid the raging third wave, of the Covid-19 outbreak.
Last year, the ZIFA leadership dismissed this concept, as an ”elitist” and expensive option.
Yesterday, the Sports Commission released some grim figures, which show that there was a staggering 600 percent increase, in the number of positive Covid-19 cases, when the Chibuku Super Cup resumed, last month.
This is in comparison with the first round of the competition.
Given matches were only played for just two-and-half weeks, in the second round, compared to the two-and-half months, in first phase, the damning statistics forced authorities to raise the red flag.
While there were only four positive cases, in two-and-half months, in the first round, 24 positive cases were detected, in just under three weeks, in the second round.
The pandemic has since claimed a board member of Premiership club, Triangle, Tarisai Mudambanuki, who succumbed to Covid-19 complications, on Wednesday night.
Mudambanuki (54), who was also the Tongaat Hullet general manager (Agriculture), lost his battle at Collin Saunders Covid-19 isolation centre.
The SRC provided a comprehensive picture which show things were possibly exploding out of hand, within the tournament, at the time it was brought to a halt.
The country’s sports regulator, who will be conducting weekly reviews of their suspension of the codes, said their decision, to halt the Chibuku Super Cup, was based on the following:
“The first half of the Chibuku Super Cup tournament, covering the period April to mid-June 2021, 9 500 tests were done with four retaining positive results. This represented a positive infection rate of 0.042%.
“The second phase of the Chibuku Super Cup tournament, which commenced mid-June, until the suspension during the week ending Friday July 2 2021, a total of 24 Covid-19 positive cases were detected from 1100 tests. This signified a positive test rate of 2.182%, over a one-and-half week period, and an absolute increase, in numbers, of 51.8 times.
“Consequently, two Chibuku Super Cup fixtures (Harare City FC v ZPC Kariba FC and Ngezi Platinum Stars FC v Triangle United FC) had to be postponed, by the organisers, as a way of mitigating the risk of spreading infections.
“The increase in the number of positive tests, outlined above, represent an increase of 600% between the first phase of the tournament, which lasted for two-and-a-half months and the second phase, which lasted for two weeks.
“Therefore, the first phase contributed 14% of the total positive cases, as compared to the second phase, which contributed 86% of the total positive infections, albeit in a two-week period.
“The case study of Chibuku Super Cup has also demonstrated the benefits of vaccination as the highest number of positive tests were attributed to those teams, with the least number of players and officials, to have been vaccinated.” The SRC said while tests were being conducted, and fumigation being done at venues and on facilities, the third wave had crashed over the protection wall because:
“Players and officials were not playing from a bio-secure bubble but were commuting to, and from their homes, for training sessions and matches.
“It is clear that protocols, designed to mitigate the lack of a bio-secure bubble for players and officials, (the costs were said to be prohibitive) were not being effectively adhered to, or monitored, by the affected individuals, and clubs, resulting in the rising rate of infections.
“This posed a significant risk of infection, from their respective communities (which were not a controlled environment) in circumstances where the rate of local transmission has significantly increased as evidenced by the numbers released by the Ministry of Health and Child Care.
“The above statistics underscore the fact that, without placing footballers and officials, in a bio-secure bubble, the immediate return of Premier League football, in the present environment, is simply not possible. A positive player risks infecting teammates, close family members and subsequently, the community.
“The SRC encourages all stakeholders, especially national sports associations, to continue to make their respective, and proactive, representations to the SRC regarding their proposals for enhanced protocols in their respective fields for consideration towards the resumption of their sports code.
“Most, obviously, the SRC is, therefore, encouraging all athletes and sectorial stakeholders to undergo vaccination. As more sections of the population embrace vaccination, and achieve herd immunity, the rate of infections could be contained. “The SRC said it was important for their key stakeholders to be reminded of the following considerations:
The SRC has been and continues to advise Government on the status of sport in this Covid-19 environment, the importance of resumption of sport and the global trends with regard to sport and Covid-19 management and containment, including case studies, from other countries.
These efforts, by the SRC, resulted in the resumption of sport in 2020, and its partial resumption, in the first quarter of 2021.
The SRC does not make its recommendation to Government, in isolation, but is guided by prevailing national laws, under the guidance of the Ministry of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation, in consultation with the Ministry of Health and Child Care, in so far as sport and the containment and prevention of Covid-19, is concerned.
Whilst the SRC acknowledges the fact that sport is not just a healthy lifestyle, but is also a business sustaining livelihoods, through employment creation across its entire value chain contributing to our GDP, the temporary suspension of sport is inevitable.
This suspension, in particular, is necessary, in order, to preserve human lives. 4. A case in point is the country’s most popular sport, football, and in particular, the suspension of the ZIFA-PSL Chibuku Super Cup tournament.”
Online Reporter