There were a number of disappointed football fans over this past weekend.
When some spectators turned up at the Empire Sports Club last Saturday to witness action in The Island Linkz Rum Punch, Glassesco & Infra Equipment Rentals Over 40s Old Boys League Football Invitational tournament, they were greeted with just blades of grass and music from the clubhouse.
The opening encounter was scheduled to kick-off at 3 p.m. with table leaders Diamond Park looking to extend their lead and place one hand on their debut championship with a win over Carlton ATP.
However, when the media and some spectators turned up to view the matches, they were greeted with a few club members and neighbourhood folks who were socializing at the clubhouse.
According to reports the tournament was suspended via directives from the Covid-19 Monitoring Unit until further notice; to the bewilderment of some of those who were at the venue on Saturday.
Two gentlemen who asked to be anonymous said that the tournament organizers and officials have executed all of the safety guidelines mandated by the health authorities and even instilled some of their own to ensure the safety of all persons entering the premises.
“There was the collection of contact tracing information, temperature checks, sanitizing, you had to wear a mask upon entry, clearly identified sitting areas and at the gate they gave us wrist bands which had numbers on them, which indicated how many persons were at the event”, said one of the gentlemen.
The two gentlemen received some vocal support in the distance by a group of men who stated that there was a tournament which was played during the summer period of August and September and one which is currently playing within close proximity.
When Loop Sports researched the guidelines of The Official Gazzette, Section 3, Item (1) (b), states “Every person is allowed to host or attend a recreational or competitive sporting event”.
With further reference to the official document, Section 4, Item (1) says “Sports and competitive events are permitted to have spectators and there should be a physical distance of at least one meter between every person attending the event, unless the persons are members of the same household”.
Item (2) of the same section clearly directs; “All spectators attending sports and competitive events shall wear face masks”.
There is also Item 9 which bears some relevance to sporting events.
It reads; “A person who wishes to host an activity referred to in Paragraph 3 (1) that exceeds 500 people shall first seek the permission of the Covid-19 Protocol Monitoring Unit”.
The organizers indicated they were aware of the guidelines in the official government document and before kicking off their event, sent a courtesy letter to the Covid-19 Monitoring Unit informing them of their plans, which was acknowledged by their administration and scheduled for review.
However, the review did not arrive in the manner that they expected as they received a call from the authorities, less than 24 hours before kick-off.
An occurrence the organizers deemed as an economical and personal inconvenience.
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