Sulom cautious
As Coronavirus is still spreading across the globe and with many major sporting events postponed, Super League of Malawi (Sulom) has disclosed it is treading carefully ahead of the 2020 season kickoff.
Although no case has been registered in the country yet, Coronavirus has been recorded in some of Malawi’s neighbouring countries including South Africa where hundreds of people connect into the country almost daily.
Some countries in Africa including South Africa, Kenya and Rwanda have enhanced their awareness programmes at sports events as well.
On Friday Conferedation of African Football(Caf) suspended 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers that were scheduled for this month end whereas the major football leagues across Europe including Premier League, Serie A, La Liga, Bundesliga and French Ligue 1 and 2 have been suspended due to the pandemic.
Sulom President, Tiya Somba- Banda, said they are monitoring the situation with the help of the Ministry of Sports.
“Malawi hasn’t been affected at the moment hence there is no need to panic. We are monitoring closely the situation and alerts from the Ministry of Health,” he said.
Somba-Banda was hopeful that the situation would stabilise before Coronavirus hits the country.
“The stabilisation of the situation in China gives hope that the situation will improve rather than worsen. Further to that we are encouraging people to take the hygienic prevention measures issued by the Ministry of Health and we are open to work together with the Ministry and other agencies to use football in sensitising the public on the preventative measures on the spread of the virus,” he said.
Nyasa Big Bullets Chief Administration Officer Albert Chigoga said it was important to follow advice from Ministry of Health after the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared coronavirus pandemic.
“As a club we cannot pretend every day we read and hear of the continuous spread of the virus in Europe and some countries in Africa. We expect the Ministry of Health and Sulom to work jointly to guide us,” he said.
Eagles Chairperson Alexander Ngwala echoed similar sentiments.
“It is unfortunate that coronavirus has been declared a pandemic. Our preparations for the new season will continue as we wait for communication from our counterparts in the health sector despite our country not registering any case of coronavirus. Most of the leagues in Europe have now been suspended,” he said.
Similarly, Silver Strikers Board Chairman Victor Madhlopa said they were not panicking following the spread of the coronavirus.
“We are training normally as we prepare for the new season. It is business as usual. We hear no case has been registered yet. So we are just cautious as we wait to hear developments from the Ministry of Health,” he said
Bullets are expected to face Eagles on March 21 at Kamuzu Stadium to mark the start of the 2020 TNM Super League season.
