Mbabane: It will seem the is light at the end of the dark Coronavirus tunnel for sports in the country.
Prime Minister Ambrose Mandvulo Dlamini announced that sporting codes classified as low risk will resume from Monday, July 13. Amid the Covid-19 wave, sports has been segmented into three categories; high risk, medium risk and low risk which is informed by the nature of the respective sporting codes.
Low risk sports are non- contact sports where social distancing is possible.
Effectively, these means that Angling, Athletics, Cricket, Cue Sports (Snooker), Cycling, Darts, Equestrian, Golf, Shooting, Tennis and Teqball can resume their respective competitions from Monday.
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Their return comes with strict health measures that include among others not having spectators at both training and games, frequent sanitisation of training and competition equipment along with high touch surfaces, daily temperature screening and recording as well as wearing of appropriate gear like face masks and gloves by coaches and personnel.
Athletes and officials living with chronic diseases have been advised not to attend.
The PM announced that government has tasked the Ministry of Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs to conduct regular inspections to monitor compliance.
“Associations found not to be complying will be banned immediately,” the head of government said.
Medium and high risk sports however remain suspended.
Government has classified medium risk sports as those with moderate risks to athletes and personnel- particularly stemming from sharing or multiple use of the same equipment like Volleyball.
High risk sports are those with close physical contact where social distancing is not possible like Football and Basketball.
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