Covid-hit RANL calls off matches

THE Rainbow Amateur Netball League (RANL) has shelved a host of fixtures save for the title decider between Correctional Queens and ZRP Mambas due to a spike in COVID-19 cases.

RANL have followed in the footsteps of the Premier Soccer League and cricket where some matches were moved after teams recorded COVID-19 cases.

The Glow Cup which was supposed to mark the end of the season has also been set aside and will only be played when the “environment is safe”.

RANL secretary-general Moses Gukurume said there will be an exception of tomorrow’s game to determine the champions for this season.

“It’s a very sad development that we have to postpone our games. It was not out of choice but circumstances forced us to do so. If you look at the spike in the number of COVID-19 cases, RANL teams are not spared, we have been affected big time,” Gukurume said.

“Glow Cup will be played yes, but it’s just a matter that we have postponed it to see how best we can do it. I don’t not have the team statistics on hand, but we have got a lot of our athletes who have tested positive.”

“It would have been very irresponsible for us as the executive to allow a tournament to go on in Hwange, where in as much as we are calling it a bubble, it is not full-proof. We would have exposed most of our athletes to an environment that is not safe, it would be a super spreader if I may put it that way,” he said.

Gukurume said the country still lacks proper facilities where strict COVID-19 protocols could be strictly adhered to.

“There is another angle that people are not looking at.

We don’t have the facilities to conduct a full proof bubble. You find out that when we play our games, as much as we say we don’t want spectators, at the end of the day you find out we have spectators around,” he said.

“So we saw it fit to say, this is part of our own effort to complement government efforts to say, we are not going to be part and parcel for those that are going to let COVID-19 spread like veld fire. We will take every necessary measure.”

“We are going to carry on with our efforts to resume games as soon as the situation becomes a bit normal and when we see that it’s safe to do so. So we have postponed our games but it’s not indefinite,” Gukurume said.

The Premier Netball League (PNL) managed to complete their games on November 28, in a crash program where the Platinum Queens were crowned champions.