Following the discussion held between the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Sports, it seems like the resumption of sport in the island in 2021 is not too far away.
The committee decided that sports can resume in January, under strict health guidelines.
“Sports and fitness training in all age categories to commence mid-January, adhering to all the #COVID19 guidelines issued by the MOH,” Minister of Sports & Youth Affairs Namal Rajapaksa posted on his Twitter account following the discussion.
Sports and extracurricular activities were halted with the COVID19 pandemic in March following the island-wide lockdown.
Later, school sports resumed to a certain extent during August and September, but with the second wave of COVID19 cases, things were halted once again.
However, a collective decision was taken yesterday (5th) over the issue after a series of discussions with the Ministry of Health Pavithra Wanniarachchi and State Minister Thenuka Widanagamage with the purview of the National Sports Council.
The resumption applies to both professional sport and school level sports.
It will be a stage by stage resumption, here are five crucial points that were discussed during the meeting:
1 – All sporting activities that will resume will take place under strict health guidelines
2 – Individual sports and the sports classified as lower risk can start their tournaments from January
3 – The decision on the events of the sports tagged as high risk will be in February
4 – Sports activities will not resume in the Western province and places classified as high risk
5 – The Ministry of Sport together with the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education will forward a resumption to sport guideline to all schools and sporting bodies
