Sport may need something extraordinary to return on the menu

Like places of worship and bars, sports is one of the activities pending clearance to resume in Uganda ever since the coronavirus pandemic pulled the rug under the world’s feet.

It has turned out, to most, a case of when not how football, rugby, tennis, woodball or athletics will resume so as to offer a chance to those in the sector to make a living again.

Almost a month back, President Museveni gave a hint via his Facebook and Twitter channels that sports could return soon. This was not a pledge so the country was expectant because Museveni, it is said, it only slow at fulfilling his pledges. Yet little has materialised since.

Sports associations and federations led by the Uganda Olympic Committee and National of Sports had already set Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) about two months ago.

In the last few days, NCS General Secretary Dr Patrick Ogwel gave more hope to the fraternity that activity could resume soon while speaking exclusively to journalists Clive Kyazze via Sanyu FM radio. Yes, soon!
Ogwel, in the interview however, was bothered that the spike in Covid-19 cases and deaths around the country could delay resumption of sports.

And here is where, perhaps, sport could wait a little longer unless something extraordinary happens.

For activity to resume, it will require high-level testing of players or sportsmen and officials as the Premier League, German Bundesliga, Spanish La Liga and Italian Serie A did to wrap up their seasons.
The challenge in Uganda, however, is that the testing procedures have not been smooth.

Testing is still on a relatively low scale and it may require NCS or UOC to probe the government through the Ministry of Health to set-up testing centres all with an intention of having activity resume.

But challenges are still abound with results as there are still individuals who have been tested but are yet to get their Covid-19 results back.

Furthermore, unlike European teams or American franchises where teams have been isolated from society to have activity resume, that would require facilities and funding for sports teams or organisations here to do.

Even where athletes elsewhere are able to use their own means of transport, ours here would be liable to sharing a taxi or take a boda boda home after training or a match.

That means players will have to be tested on a more consistent basis, which is not guaranteed for a sector that has been categorised with bars and lodges.

On another hand, it is increasingly becoming difficult for the government to have SOPs implemented. The public either seems to have moved on from the pandemic or are rather resistant to SOPs like wearing a mask in public.

But it doesn’t mean that sport cannot resume. It can but only if the government offers special attention or does something extra-ordinary just like the way President Museveni offered Joshua Cheptegei and three other runners a chartered flight out to Nairobi enroute to the Monaco Diamond League.

If sport is treated as a special case like Cheptegei who went on to break the 5000m world record in the French city on August 14 and have Museveni chest-thump during his party speech early this week, then the word ‘soon’ could make more sense.

Mr Kyeyune is a global multimedia journalist
Twitter: @AllanDarren