OPINION PIECE
example. Many will rather listen to their sports hero
than to the president of their country!
Meanwhile, what has South Africa done? Not much.
The Minister of Sport took a conservative approach.
It was clear from the original draft regulations that
the department did not have much of a clue, and
that they were trying to adopt a one-size-fits-all
approach to sports as diverse as full-contact sports,
such as rugby, to completely non-contact sports,
such as archery. Thankfully, they changed their
approach slightly, and wisely, when they said to the
sports codes themselves, tell us your plans and
how you want to deal with the situation, taking into
account the risk involved. But there was the problem,
immediately…
Sport is not really run by sportspeople in South Africa.
The national Olympic Committee (SASCOC) spent
the entire lockdown squabbling amongst themselves
and fighting legal battles. The board could not offer
assistance to the Minister or the national federations,
because they didn’t know how to. They all want to be
in charge, but don’t really have a plan once they have
trampled over everyone to get there.
Barring cricket, on a limited scale, no other major
sport in South Africa has worked out how to operate
in a world where social distancing is crucial. (Rugby,
for example, will never be able to avoid social
distancing, so it will need to ensure no-one taking
part is infected.) And where does that leave athletics?
Nowhere!
VIRTUAL SILENCE
The national federation, Athletics South Africa (ASA),
has been silent on spreading the word that only
behavioural change will protect us and stop the
spread of infection. The official approach has been
that the safest thing is to do nothing. All that has
come out of the ASA office was missives about virtual
races having to follow the rules and get permission
from their local federation.
So you had to wear your race number over your
licence number (something that still numbs my mind)
as you ran around your garden or on a treadmill, and
you could only get water from a designated point (I
assume your route around the garden could go past
the tap, although I am not sure how you do it on a
treadmill). And to run your virtual race against athletes
in other provinces, and possibly other countries, you
had to get permission from…. (who knows).
One province did send out a single communiqué
saying athletes must follow all the regulations, but did
not even encourage behavioural changes like social
distancing, cleaning hands and surfaces, wearing
masks, etc.
Then when the Minister asked for plans on how to
re-open sports, ASA said ‘no thanks.’ Not only to
competitions, but also to training. So that left the
elite track athletes to fend for themselves on the
streets while stadiums and tracks remained closed.
Fortunately, the Minister came to the rescue after an
outcry from the athletes in the media, and the new
regulations provided that for non-contact sports,
professional athletes could resume training. That
way, the lack of a plan from ASA did not hinder the
athletes.
WE NEED A PLAN
At the time of writing in early August, there is still
no plan as to how competitions can resume. ASA
has taken the approach that it will await advice from
the national department of sport and from World
Athletics as to when it is safe to resume. So, while the
department is asking ASA for a plan, ASA is asking
the department for the same thing!
Why has this come about? The answer is simple
really. World Athletics (previously the IAAF) is a
body that deals primarily with elite level athletics
at senior level, with only a passing interest in mass
participation road events, and most of the major
national federations operate on similar lines, whereas
in South Africa, elite level senior athletics is only a
small, minor consideration, as the emphasis is on
mass participation.
In Italy, one of the hardest hit countries in the world
and which is still battling with the pandemic, they
have been able to host track & field competitions.
It could be argued that they are possibly being a bit
reckless, but we need to look at the actual facts. A
virus does not magically float from one person to
another. Although there is always an expert who will
argue against anything, the consensus is that being
outdoors greatly minimises the risk of infection,
provided there is still social distancing. Wearing
masks when not actually competing and being careful
of shared equipment and surfaces, plus keeping
doors open to limit risks from door handles, all reduce
risks substantially. More so than going to the shops. In
addition, screening and testing of participants further
reduces risks.
It really is not difficult to allow athletes to warm up
away from each other, and for contact to be kept
to an absolute minimum. Actual contact is only
permitted in distance events, and even there, bunches
in elite events are the exception rather than the rule.
Think back to pictures of Comrades before it became
We are unlikely to see mass starts, like the
Two Oceans Marathon, for quite some time
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