Covid 19 still a big problem for sport

While the entire world was turned on its head by the widening impact of the Covid 19 virus in 2020, things are expected to get worse in 2021 following the discovery of the new variant in the virus.

In a recent interview acting Botswana National Sport Commission ( BNSC) Chief Executive Officer ( CEO) Tuelo Serufho said their position has not changed as the lives of the athletes come before sport.

“The first thing we intend to do is ensure that there is a through prevention of the spread of the virus, if the measures are sufficient we will therefore allow sport to be played across the country.”

With the discovery of the new variant in the virus Serufho says supporters will have to take the backseat a little longer since they will not return to the stadiums anytime soon.

Consequently he said non contact sports are allowed to play while contact sports cannot be played without testing “if the situation gets worse then we will call off all the games that are currently being played.”

Serufho says the Olympic team will soon go into camp, he says the team will test adequately “if the team is in a bio bubble the frequency of testing will be reduced since they wont be meeting up with a lot of people,” he said.

Quizzed if the association will allow athletes to attend Olympic qualifiers outside the country, Serufho said they would only allow athletes to fly out to qualifiers if they are satisfied with the prevention measures adopted by the country in question.

“If the country they are visiting wont put them in danger of contracting the virus then we would allow them to travel but if their health is under risk the athletes will not be allowed to travel.”

Currently non contact sports are allowed to play while contact sports aren’t allowed to play unless they test before and after games, it remains to be seen if more athletes will qualify for the Olympics or not.