Ahead of the commencement of the Sierra Leone Premier League scheduled for February, topflight clubs have received training on Covid-19 protocols.
The exercise was part of a two-day seminar organized by the Sierra Leone Premier League Board (SLPLB) to help club administrators and match commissioners familiarize with new approaches to the game.
The training brought together club medics who covered lessons on Covid-19 protocols and administrators who got trained on Domestic Transfer Matching System, Public Relations and Marketing, Club License system, to name but a few.
The facilitator of the session devoted to medical issues. Dr. Songor Koedoyoma from the Sierra Leone Football Association said clubs have to grapple with the challenges of playing football during the pandemic.
“It’s a global pandemic. It’s not just in Sierra Leone. There is a visible sign of COVID-19 everywhere, but football has to play because it hinges on livelihood,” Dr. Koedoyoma added.
He urged clubs to follow the COVID-19 guidelines and protocols outlined by health experts, which include but not limited to physical distancing, wearing of masks, handwashing, identifying suspected cases, isolating such patients, managing issues at hand, and ensuring that the team is safe.
The Medical Person for FC Kallon, Sidi Bah, said the training has provided a lot of information relevant to preventing players from catching the virus and to ensuring their safety.
“This training will help us greatly even though some of us understand how the virus spreads. We have learnt new things regarding how to protect our players, officials and even some supporters from catching the virus,” Bah said.
The training came just hours after the release of new safety guidelines by the National Sports Authority on Friday.
National COVID-19 Emergency Response Committee (NaCOVERC) also released a fresh set of guidelines on Thursday which includes playing matches behind closed doors.
With the league just weeks away, the Secretary General of Old Edwardians Football Club, Amidu Koroma (Freaky), said they will not take any chance with the safety of their players.
“We will make sure they use facemasks before and after training. We cannot avoid body contact because football is all about that ,” he said, adding that to deal with this problem, they will have to camp the players early, and that if anyone tests positive in the morning, the club will take precautionary measures to isolate such a player.
At the training, it was agreed that all clubs should have COVID-19 officers who will liaise with authorities to ensure that COVID-19 protocols are followed.
Premier League clubs have all committed to following rigorous COVID-19 protocols to ensure an outbreak does not halt the progress of the league.
The Premier League is set to start on February 19, 2021.
26/01/2021. ISSUE NO: 7988