Sascoc: it’s out of our hands

SKHOSANA: PROTOCOL OF RESUMPTION UP TO EACH SPORTING CODE

Umbrella body insists it cannot dictate to the federations on the matter.

Each sport federation will need to determine its own return to active competition, according to the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc), based on government restrictions during the coronavirus lockdown.

Distancing itself from rethus ports yesterday that it had cast doubt over team sports being relaunched in the near future, the umbrella body insisted it could not dictate to federations on the matter.

“The protocol of resumption is the responsibility of each federation to determine when they are going to return to activity and on what basis,” said Sascoc acting president Aleck Skhosana.

“We cannot prescribe to federations when they should restart, just like we did not prescribe to them when they suspended or stopped their activities.”

With the nation under level four lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic, sports competitions remained suspended across the board.

The Premier Soccer League recently failed in its attempt to have matches played behind closed doors, with the SA Football Association claiming no games could be contested until social distance restrictions had been lifted significantly, as team codes required groups of people to be played even without crowds.

Most team sports were struggling to stay afloat during the shutdown as revenue streams dried up, with cricket and rugby Tests being postponed while topflight domestic leagues remained suspended.

Even codes which required fewer people to be contested, including tennis and golf, had failed far in their attempts to have government open the door for competitions to be relaunched.

“The best we can say is that each professional and amateur sport federation must look at the safety protocols that will protect the health of their athletes, coaches, administration and all involved,” Skhosana said.

Though Sascoc said it was not responsible for deciding when each code resumed, it added that government remained in control and federations would need approval before competitions could be held, regardless of the number of people involved.

In the midst of a dark period, athletes, coaches and administrators were also taking pay cuts.