Botswana: Sport Authorities Work On Return of Sport

Gaborone — Minister of Youth Empowerment, Sport and Culture Development, Tumiso Rakgare, says sport authorities have been working with various international bodies to assist with development of guidelines and procedures for safe return of sport.

Speaking during a media briefing in Gaborone on Tuesday, Rakgare said it was in government's interest to resume sport, albeit safely.

Therefore, he said it was critical that when they decided to resume sport, all stakeholders would know and understand their responsibilities in ensuring that all the activities were safe and did not undermine government efforts to combat the pandemic.

Rakgare said as a result of the outbreak of COVID-19, government put in place measures such as extreme social distancing, to contain the spread of the disease, which led to closure of non-essential businesses and suspension of sporting events.

This, he said, had negatively affected the sector in many ways, including, but not limited to, training of athletes, competitions and revenue generation by the sport sector."It would therefore be remiss of us to not acknowledge this and not only sympathise with those affected, but further assure them that we continue to work around the clock to find ways that may make possible, the safe return of sport, without putting the population at great risk," he said.Rakgare reiterated his ministry's intension to maintain the athletes' good performance to ensure that they continue to bring glory to this country.

"This however has to be balanced with maintaining high safety standards as set by government and the World Health Organisation," he said.

This article originally appeared on Botswana Daily News

Photo: Botswana Daily News