HARARE – The Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC) has suspended all sporting activities after the government last Saturday tightened Covid-19 restrictions, including imposing a ban on all gatherings except funerals.
In a statement released Sunday, the SRC said “all sporting activities and events are hereby suspended with effect from Monday, June 14, 2021, until further notice.”
The SRC warned “all national sports associations, clubs, gyms and related stakeholders should abide by this suspension without exception.”
The SRC said it was aware of “certain on-going or contemplated, national sports commitments including qualifiers for international events and will be in urgent direct communication with the relevant national associations on guidance, and other mitigatory measures.”
Health minister and vice president Constantino Chiwenga announced the tough new measures on Saturday, warning that Covid-19 infections appeared to be surging.
Chiwenga told reporters: “In some areas, you will find that the spread of this disease is none existent. They don’t even know what is happening.
“When we are talking about sporting activities, this is where we get super spreaders. You will agree with me that if a person attends sports here (Harare), and travels all the way to Masvingo, Mutare and Bulawayo, he goes spreading the disease, and this is what we are trying to avoid.”
The sporting ban is a major blow to the Premier Soccer League which had just restarted domestic football for the first time in more than a year.
