After President Hage Geingob announced on Saturday that government has banned all mass gatherings for 30 days, clamped down on inbound and outbound travels to and from Qatar, Ethiopia and Germany for a period of 30 days as well as cancelling Namibia’s 30th independence celebrations scheduled for 21 March, the Namibia Sports Commission (NSC) yesterday strongly followed up on that decree.
NSC chief administrator, Freddy Mwiya, yesterday issued a formal statement announcing that the Ministry of Sport, Youth and National Service has taken a decision to place a moratorium on all domestic, regional and international sporting events that were to be hosted by Namibia and also banned local athletes from participating internationally or regionally.
“The moratorium applies to all domestic, regional and international sporting events that were to be hosted in Namibia and international participation are officially put off as government steps up measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus. These includes training, entertainment and social sporting events that involves gathering of people, and will be observed for a period of 30 days effective immediately until at least 14 April 2020. All sporting events that got pre-approval are now officially suspended with this notification in a bid to prevent further spread of the coronavirus,” said Mwiya.
He further cautioned: “The NSC wish to appeal to all affiliate sporting federations and umbrella bodies to suspend all non-essential activities such as Annual General Meetings (AGMs), training grounds visits, fans meetings and team sport training. This decision should not be taken lightly, as affiliates and all sport-related activities, be it private or public institutions, must consider the wellbeing of players, staff and supporters whilst acknowledging government’s national efforts in tackling this outbreak. The NSC together with our key stakeholders will continue to update the sporting fraternity on developments in this regard.”
The NSC announcement was also followed by a similar notice from the Namibia Football Association (NFA) that it has also suspended all activities of its Galz & Goals programme due to the Covid-19 outbreak. The NFA said yesterday the Galz & Goals activities will be put on ice for a period of 30 days.
“The suspended activities include, but are not limited to league games, tournaments, trainings, meetings, workshops, site visits and any other social gatherings or activities involving travelling. Following the end of the recommended 30 days an announcement will be made as to whether the activities may or may not commence,” said the local football association.
Meanwhile, the Namibia Professional Boxing and Wrestling Control Board (NPBWCB) yesterday also issued a formal statement banning all boxing activities for 30 days.
“The board further wish to inform that this deferment of tournaments applies to any other boxing tournaments or events where more than 10 people will be gathering in one place indoor or outdoor. The ban will be valid for the next 30 days (effective from 15/03/2020). This means no boxing event shall take place until 30 April 2020, or unless otherwise stated by the board in liaison with the authority and in compliance with the stated policy on mass gatherings in Namibia,” said NPBWCB.