The restrictions put in place to stop the spread of the coronavirus pandemic have barred sports activity in Uganda since March 21.
And no thorough was offered by President Yoweri Museveni during his last address last month about the resumption of activity.
Several leagues hang in balance, some have been cancelled while other tournaments have been postponed with several sports venues abandoned.
But if anything, Museveni’s recent tweets offer a ray of hope to the resumption of activity in the country.
“On Covid-19 Pandemic: I welcome the positive suggestions like the idea of sports without audiences that have been tried in other countries of Europe. However, all this must be subsidiary to life,” read the first tweet by Museveni in part.
“Any activity that can be opened safely, with SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures), will be opened. I am one of the people most interested in the good economic performance. However economic performance should never be more important than lives,” he added.
Back in June, the National Council of Sports and Uganda Olympic Committee in partnership with federations formulated SOPs for resumption of activity with different disciplines clustered in the category of low, medium and high risk depending on the level of contact or sharing of equipment.
And now, some federations like football governing body Fufa believe Museveni’s tweet and sports’ bodies recent engagements with the government are beginning to pay off.
“Fufa and other federations are engaging the government through the NCS. Our meeting with Prime Minister Dr Ruhakana Rugunda was fruitful and will be followed by another,” said Fufa spokesman Ahmed Hussein.
“We want to plan for the start of football activities on pitch as we also have the U17 Women’s World Cup qualifiers, Big League and Regional playoffs. We have presented our SOPs to NCS and believe we can meet the requirements,” he added.
Plenty of football activity was called off like the 2019-20 Uganda Premier League which was halted with five matches to play and Vipers later crowned champions.
And some events have been cancelled or postponed like the Africa Nations Championship where the Uganda Cranes were due to face Morocco, Rwanda and Togo will take place in Cameroon in January.
SPORTS CATEGORIES
Selected low risk sports: Golf, Motorsport, Swimming, Pool, Woodball
Selected medium risk sports: Cricket, Chess, Table tennis, Lawn tennis, Badminton, Volleyball
Selected high-risk sports: Football, Rugby, Basketball, Netball, Boxing, Taekwondo, Judo
SELECTED SOPs FOR SPORTS
Considerations for event organisers
• Public health hygiene (social distancing hand washing, signage, etc)
• Rubber gloves for team staff, volunteers
• Towels for single use
• Clean water bottle for each participant
• Infrared thermometer for each team
• Isolation or quarantine space[s]
• Routine disinfection of venue
• Medical masks
Join Betway now & enjoy betting on 100’s of markets with the most competitive odds on offer
For all the latest sports news, betting tips and promotions follow Betway on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. Download the Betway App.
This writer is a global broadcaster and as well scribe with Daily Monitor Newspaper and sports presenter with Radio One FM 90 in Kampala. Follow him on Twitter: @AllanDarren and his Facebook Page: Darren Allan Kyeyune