Contact sports in the age of Covid-19 has become a touchy subject.
Lots of the talk around the resumption of professional sports has centred on just how to limit the spread of the deadly virus.
From the very beginning of this struggle with the
coronavirus, we’ve known that it spreads by touch.
Contact, therefore, is moerse risky.
And it’s understandable sports are talking about
limiting unnecessary contact as much as possible.
So let’s take a look at just what sport might look like once it resumes.
FOOTBALL
The Beautiful Game is probably the best place to start looking, because we already have an example how it will work - the Bundesliga.
The Germans have shown the world how to get the ball rolling again after a very uncertain time for our global society.
Because their nation as a whole was doing the most when it came to containing the virus, their professional league was always going to have a headstart on the rest of Europe - where football bosses in France, Holland, Belgium and Scotland have decided to call off the season.
And it’s all to do with testing.
With all the geld in the game, there is enough resources to make sure that the players get the safest facilities to do their jobs.
Some mense will point to the rate of infections among health workers and say that football is kinderspeletjies compared to actually saving lives - and they are right.
Still, testing makes this all possible.
Some people have pointed out that it’s dom for the Premier League to restrict tackling in training right now and how this could possibly be useful.
It is. It is because it is the second phase of their return-to-play protocols.
The reason for this is so there is minimal contact to curb the spread of the disease and they can get to playing full contact if and when the league does resume.
It’s crucial that players don’t fall ill at this stage because more delays will just make the possibility of completing the season less viable.
The manne will be making regte tackles once they are all corona-free for the start of the season.
If you don’t believe me, watch the Bundesliga.
LESS ARGY BARGY: Prem out to restrict unnecessary contact
CRICKET
NOW for something a little more tricky and let’s remember football’s intense testing and sanitisation measures are the benchmark for the rest of our pro sports.
In cricket, the ball is going to be the carrier of the virus because you’ve seen how often players smeer gal all over it.
Back in the day when I used to swing down some deliveries myself, I learnt that shining the ball is as useful a skill in the game as playing a reverse sweep.
The ICC has banned the use of saliva to shine the ball and have okayed sweat to shine the ball. Maybe everyone wearing a pair of golf gloves would have worked as a better solution, but look out today for a possible update from CSA about how cricket will return.
POLISHED OFF: Ball shining
RUGBY
AH and now we have rugby - the ultimate contact sport.
Tackling, mauls, scrums, lineouts, die manne gryp mekaar en knou mekaar gedurig af.
So how are we going to keep the coronavirus from killing off all the rugby players?
Once again the answer is testing. Fit players will play, sick players will be quarantined.
But World Rugby has announced optional measures to ensure less contact, especially in face-to-face tackling and scrums.
Stormers boss John Dobson, though, says he can’t see it happening - especially around uncontested scrums.
This week he said: “I think what’s problematic with that is - I understand that it’s good intentions - but a lot of your players are contracted around that.
“That’s rugby league - everybody is the same size. If it’s a short-term fix for this competition, I can’t see teams going for it.
“And where do you draw the level on contact? No lineout, you can’t maul, so it’s tricky.
“The breakdown for me, we go to the league breakdown - it’s a tackler and a carrier
“So for me it’s a non-starter.”
I believe that rugby will look pretty much the same post-coronavirus, but for a paar changes.
So fans, don’t paap that it will turn into a tickling contest. It may slow the flow of the game a bit as the authorities make the game as safe as possible.