Ahead competitions at all levels resumption, African football ruling body (CAF) has sent out nine conditions member associations must meet.
In a communiqué issued yesterday, CAF said the conditions were arrived at after series of meetings involving various arms of the body, including its Development Division, Medical Committee, Technical and Development Committee as well as Men and Women Elite Instructors.
Stating that the developments in the spread and control of COVID-19 across the continent and the rest of the world necessitated the meetings to decide the future of competitions, CAF added, “It is in this regard that the CAF Medical Committee in collaboration with the Technical & Development Department and a team of experts has put together a comprehensive plan to guide the Member Associations (MA’s) on the restart of football activities on the continent.”
The plan points out effective and continuous medical assessment (testing) of players and officials, guidelines for training sessions, disinfection of sporting facilities, as well as strict adherence to the global preventive protocols.
The recommendations include (one) Gathering all the teams in a city(in one place) and this until the end of the championship; (two) Each team must be made up of 23 players, 10 members of the technical and medical staff; (three) Match officials, the media and all those who work in the stadiums during the match will all have to take the test (Ball boys); (four) Mask ports for substitutes and supervisors on the sidelines; (five) No press conference except flash interviews for players; and (six) Flash interviews to be conducted respecting the physical distancing of two metres and more.
CAF also recommended that every member association should (seven) ban exchange of shirts; (eight) accept the use of five substitutes, drinking break 30 and 75 minutes and discourage spitting on the field; and (nine) ensure the federations have the means to guarantee the tests.
“This comprehensive document is a major step towards resuming football on the continent. Based on recent developments, it is important we have a plan in place to guide our stakeholders on the return of continental and domestic competitions, and the need for an all hands on deck approach”.
