Botswana National Sport Commission (BNSC) is satisfied with the proposal local sports federations have submitted to them to resume sporting activities.
Sports participation was stopped for at least two months as the country went under lockdown in a bid to fight the coronavirus (COVID 19) pandemic.
BNSC’s Director Sport Development Technical, Bobby Gaseitsiwe, says proposals submitted by national sporting federations to resume activities are sound and doable.
With the virus now relatively under control, the government advised BNSC that sporting codes and athletes may start training on the 1st of July.
“The team sport training can only start after the approval by the BNSC as the sport governing body in Botswana. Most of the national sporting have developed plans on how they intend to go back to training,” Gaseitsewe says.
He goes on to state that the proposals are in line with COVID19 protocols to fight the deadly pandemic which has disrupted lives across the globe.
“They may start after BNSC has satisfied that there won’t be any contact that might put players at risk of contacting the disease. Sporting teams must exercise social distance during training all the time,” Gaseitsiwe says.
He adds that Botswana Cricket Association (BCA) has submitted a good proposal and they have since granted them permission to train. Bowling will start sometime in July.
Gaeitsiwe goes on to say that training dynamics are different from competitions and that each sporting code must abide by protocols prescribed by their international body which they are affiliated to.
He says sporting codes are not under pressure to rush to start training and may decide to start anytime provided they follow schedules provided by international federations they are affiliated to so as to avoid sanctions.
The BNSC’s Director Sport Development Technical says federations run themselves and the commission can only accede to their proposals, adding it is up to sporting codes to follow their own schedules.
During lockdown, athletes were only restricted to their homes and only did training individually. This was however not effective because the space was limited.
Gaseitsewe says local health authorities have however given sport the green light to resume provided people keep social distancing.
“We are allowed to train in the gyms, run, exercise and other things provided social distancing is maintained,” he says.
BNSC director is optimistic that national federations will not disappoint and will abide by the protocols they proposed as they were done by technical people with expertise.
Botswana Football Association (BFA) has also submitted their proposals which the commission is satisfied with according to Bobby.
BFA has been dominating the news after it stopped the league sitting that to continue with the league is expensive. The BFA officials said the league needed at least P300 million to start.
Athletics, Chess, Boxing, and other non-contact sports have since started training.
