Selected sports reactivated

AT least 26 disciplines have been given the green light to resume sports activities as part of the relaxation of the country's Covid-19 lockdown restrictions, the Namibia Sports Commission announced on Wednesday. Namibia entered phase two of the four-stage Covid-19 exit plan on Tuesday when all businesses were allowed to re-open, subject to use of personal protective measures and equipment. The country has so far recorded 16 cases with nine recoveries and no deaths by Thursday. The sports disciplines are being reactivated on condition they adhere to strict precautionary measures, which include no competitions and no spectators. Effectively, this means athletes in the selected codes, classified as 'non-contact sports', will be allowed to train at sporting facilities, which must be disinfected before the resumption of activities. Additionally, training sessions should contain no more than 10 athletes who should 'avoid contact of any kind'. '... sports in general remains under lockdown and that as announced, the resumption of sporting activities among non-contact sports is limited to training under strict measures as provided for under the Covid-19 national regulations and under no circumstances will competitive sports be permissible,' NSC chief administrator Simataa Freddy Mwiya said in a statement. Disciplines permitted to resume include athletics, cricket, cycling, swimming and dance sports. However, not all forms of the authorised codes can return to partial action. For instance, only rhythmic, aerobics, trampoline and tumbling gymnastics are approved while artistic is not. Likewise, only the singles version is back in action for badminton, tennis, table tennis and squash. In karate, the single form of kata training is allowed but two form fighting is not. Also, only open water swimming has been reactivated, there should be no sharing of equipment in athletics, and only solo acts are permitted in dancing. Contacted to elaborate on the resumption by The Namibian Sports yesterday, Mwiya said athletes 'must wear gloves' for codes such as tennis, cricket, fist ball and bowling, as a precaution. '... although one metre is regarded as sufficient, we recommend two metres due to the nature of sports as it involves sweat, especially indoor sports,' Mwiya advised. The sports commission will conduct 'regular field inspections to monitor and ensure adherence to the approved Covid-19 regulations', he continued. Furthermore, associations should keep attendance lists and submit compulsory reports, 'on the progress and challenges faced during stage 2 of the lockdown'. 'The monitoring reports will be helpful to government to access and review or will be used in future considerations on what sporting activities will be allowed depending on the prevailing circumstances at the time,' Mwiya said. The following codes are cleared for resumption during stage 2 of the exit plan: Athletics (no equipment sharing), archery, badminton (singles), bowls (compulsory to wear gloves), canoeing and rowing (singles), chess, cricket, cycling, swimming (open water), karate (single form), darts, dance sports, equestrian and horse racing, freshwater anglers, fist ball, golf, gymnastics (rhythmic, aerobics, trampoline and tumbling), motor sports, seawater angling, shooting, tennis and table tennis (singles), triathlon and waterski. Unapproved codes - boxing, judo, kick boxing, rugby, wrestling, netball, basketball, karate (two form fighting), dance sports (duo/group dancing), football, hockey, inline hockey, volleyball, kendo, gymnastics (artistic) and powerlifting/weightlifting.
Courtesy of namibian.com.ua