Clubs face a lengthy wait with Wales on high alert
CARMARTHEN Town are facing more weeks on the sidelines as fears grow that their season may be wiped out entirely by the coronavirus emergency.
Top-level domestic football in Wales stopped immediately before Christmas after its elite status was rescinded amid efforts to combat the pandemic.
The decision, made by the National Sport Group (NSG), affects the Cymru Premier, North and South divisions and the Welsh Premier Women’s League.
The Cymru Premier’s professional sides will not play while tierfour restrictions are in place.
The rescinding of the elite status level is for an indefinite time period and the decision was made after Wales entered a tier four lockdown.
A Cymru Premier statement read: “Although fixtures between professional clubs are permitted to take place during Alert Level 4, the JD Cymru Premier has decided that no matches will be played for a minimum period of three weeks, having fully taken into consideration the rapidly changing public health crisis in Wales.”
As a result, all fixtures and activities involving non-fully professional clubs are to be postponed until further notice.
The Cymru North and South were given elite status in November.
That meant that Carmarthen Town and their JD Cymru South rivals AFC Ammanford and Llanelli Town were able to start preparing for the new campaign and organise pre-season friendlies.
Ammanford and Llanelli even played Nathaniel MG Cup games, though both were beaten in the first round of the competition.
But that was the last action any of the clubs saw, and the chances of them returning to the field any time soon now rest on a dramatic fall in coronavirus cases.
And with the new UK variant sparking a rise in positive tests across the country, that looks increasingly unlikely to happen in the next few weeks.
Football Association of Wales chief executive Jonathan Ford has warned that football in Wales is battling a “dire situation” because of coronavirus.
Ford says the FAW is facing a “massive” financial loss as a result of the pandemic.
The elite status designation will be automatically reinstated should the Welsh Government move the country to a lower alert level.