Hope for Kenyan sports as Ministry releases draft return protocols

Protocols for the resumption of sports in Kenya will be rolled out in the next 14 days, the Ministry of Sports, Culture and Heritage has announced.

Stakeholders including sports federations have been given seven days to review and give suggestions on the draft resumption to sports protocols released by the ministry on Monday.

Subsequently, the ministry will take another seven days for alignment of the protocols with the Ministry of Health before announcing the procedures.

Cabinet Secretary for Sports Amina Mohammed disclosed that it’s from the recommendations that the ministry will be able to roll out the protocols.

The proposed protocols that have seen sports categorised from high risk to low risk will see some of the most stringent measures put in place owing to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Swimming affected

The proposed protocol was launched by Amina on Monday via zoom from the Ministry of Sports office, Kencom House, Nairobi.

The protocol report was put together by the advisory committee on resumption of sports activities chaired by the ministry’s Chief Administrative Secretary Hassan Noor Hassan.

However, swimming will be the most hit sport with its resumption set to take a bit longer since swimming pools and aquatic venues all water sports with high aerosol levels will remain closed.

Saunas, steam rooms, and hot tubs will remain closed in the report that came up with the guidelines for both the indoor and outdoor activities.

The resumption of sport will take place in each six categories that have been put in three phases.

The first phase being dedicated to medical and athletes’ tests followed by the second phase where the players will be required to resume training individually for seven days before training in small groups for a week.

Then the third phase would come to collective training.

Some of the non-contact sports set for reopening are athletics, volleyball, cricket, bowling, weightlifting, cycling, table tennis, lawn tennis, shooting and golf.

However, some of the sports that have been categorised as high risk contact sport and set to take long before resumption besides closed swimming activities are boxing, judo, karate, wrestling, rugby and taekwondo.

Severe penalties

Football, hockey, handball and basketball are some of the low risk sports that the report has considered for reopening but with strict covid-19 restrictions in place.

According to Rose Wacheke, the Chief of Staff at the Ministry of Sports, the guidelines are being subjected to public participation for seven days before quality assured protocols are announced after a further seven days of consultation with the Ministry of Health.

Severe penalties face organisations that fail to embrace the protocols, including deregistration and prosecution within existing laws.

“These guidelines shall be reviewed on a monthly basis or upon changes in guidelines as announced by H.E President Uhuru Kenyatta or the Ministry of Health and if and when a need arises through an addendum by the Cabinet Secretary for Sports Culture and Heritage,” the initial protocols document says.

Making the presentation, Walter Ongeti, an advisor in the Ministry of Sport, said despite the fact that sports has been rolled out in other nations, the advisory committee was looking at the Kenyan situation in particular in detail.

“We are cognizant of the fact that the reopening of sports around the globe has been informed by individual countries employing robust measures. We are also taking into consideration our solutions uniquely cut out of procedures in Kenya,” Ongeti said.