Sports enthusiasts in Uganda will this week find out the fate of sports resumption in the nation. Competitive sports activities have been on a halt since March this year as a preventative measure by government to curb the spread of COVID-19.
According to the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Minister; Hon. Judith Nabakooba, His Excellency President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has instructed the National Task Force team on Covid-19 to review the possibility of a phrased re-opening of schools, starting with candidates and clinical medicine students.
In her missive, Hon. Nabakooba adds that the task force has been tasked to review the status of remaining sectors like churches, weekly markets, tourism sector and Entebbe International Airport.
“The review will also include the status of the entertainment industry such as bars, cinemas, night clubs and sports events,” part of Hon. Nabakooba’s missive stated.
After the review, the task force will provide a report to the President early this week. He (the President) will then address the nation on the way forward for the sectors that are still on shutdown.
However, President Museveni recently dropped a hint that sports activities could resume very soon but most likely without audiences plus with SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) in place as it is now the case in some countries who have reinstated competitive play.
However, pundits and experts claim that if the resumption is to be on a phased basis, then low risk sports like golf, tennis, cricket and the like should be reinstated first and the rest will follow.
However, as a way of preparing for the ‘new normal,’ National Council of Sports (NCS) has already guided it’s 51 member federations/associations/unions on drafting SOPs to follow in the post-lockdown era.
Over two months ago, NCS submitted SOPs to the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), Ministry of Health (MoH) and the COVID-19 National Task Force in a bid to secure a green light to reinstate play, but no fruits have been yielded.
At the moment, all federations/ associations/ unions have drafted and adopted SOPs to be used in the post-lockdown age and there is no doubt that time is ripe to reinstate games, especially low-risk sports.
