Joe Apu
The Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development has handed a list of sports code and protocol to national sporting federations that must be adhered to as procedure for the resumption of sporting activities in Nigeria sports to return.
In a circular dated June 16, 2020, and signed by Maria Wophill, the 15-page document stated that the objective of the Sports Code and Protocol is to provide a COVID-19 infrastructure and standard operational procedure to regulate the practice of sports in Nigeria.
The document put together by the Central Coordinating and Monitoring Committee (CMC) in the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, with Gabriel Aduda as chairman, recommended that there shall be State Coordinating and Monitoring Committees (SCMC) to function at the level of States that will ensure the complete decontamination of sports facilities (in and around) with the presence of running water containers with soaps at the points of entrance and designated locations.
There shall also be sufficient face masks for participants/support personnel. Positioning of support personnel and officials in designated locations observing the two-metre physical distancing rule; sufficient number of infrared thermometers at the entrance, sufficient number of hand sanitisers for all participants and support personnel at all entry points.
There shall also be a COVID-19 Response Unit in all designated venues with COVID-19 equipped ambulance. The federations will also ensure good hygiene signage across all venues, changing rooms, training facilities, etc. They are also to ensure the provision of disposable plastic bags and bins as well as provision of disposable cups at water points. The document further stated that all entrants into any sports venues/facilities must wear face masks. All must observe the two-metre physical distancing rule at the points of entry and also inside the facilities/venues with all participants submitting to temperature screening at all entry points.
Additionally, participants must stay within the designated two-metre physical distancing positions allotted to them and upon exiting the sports venues/facilities, the two-metre physical distancing rule must be observed at all times among other guidelines that must be followed.