Safa details PSL resumption protocol priorities
Sports Reporter
South African Football Association (Safa) chief medical officer Dr Thulani Ngwenya has explained how the Joint Liaison Committee (JLC) submission to government allowed the PSL to resume and complete the season.
“We said to government we’re going to test first, training fields will be sanitised and people screened on a daily basis, which is just for training,” Ngwenya said.
Ngwenya added that the first round of tests will be followed by a second, before the soccer clubs can move to a biological safe environment, where a camp will be set up for the completion of the 2019/20 campaign.
“But before they come to the biological safe environment, they will be tested again for a second time, then go into a mini-camp wherever they will be based. When they are cleared for a second time, they will then travel; for which there is also protocol that we have to adhere to, which refers to the number of people allowed in transportation, as we still have to practise social distancing,” he said.
Ngwenya explained that in terms of the biological safe environment, the place must not be a Covid-19 hotspot or epicentre.
“It can be considered that regions have different weather conditions, for instance Polokwane is warmer than Joburg, but it doesn’t take priority over the issue of capacity. The first thing is that the area must not be an epicentre of the virus. The second is that it must have the capacity in terms of training fields, accommodation match venues. Third is that if possible, that area must have slightly warmer weather than the other areas in the whole country, but that is not a priority,” Ngwenya added.
