SFZ criticizes new anti-pandemic measures: They are inadequate! Communication failed again – Športky.sk

BRATISLAVA – The Slovak Football Association (SFZ) claims that it did not have any opportunity to get acquainted with the adjustments of anti-pandemic measures from next Monday until Thursday afternoon. He considers them to be inadequate, while according to the SFZ, communication and consultation by state authorities again failed.

“The sport thus receives another strong blow, moreover weakly from behind. The new Covid slot machine, which declares itself to be temporary for three weeks (we already have experience with the temporary nature of some measures), is throwing the whole of Slovakia and all its districts de facto into one bag. One thing are fans and professional competitions, the second and even more important thing in amateur and youth sports is the game itself and the opportunity to train, but the new Covid slot machine has killed the chance to finish amateur and youth competitions and banned training as it cannot play sports other than OP. What can I add … “ stated in the opinion of the SFZ.

According to the new measures, which are due to enter into force on Monday, only 200 spectators can be present at the mass event in the Red District in the OP mode (vaccinations and overcoming). It will be 100 people in burgundy and 50 people in black. The green districts and the orange districts are to be unrestricted for the OP regime. To enter the OTP mode, the capacity limit for red, burgundy and black districts is six people. Basic mode mass events are to be banned for the red, burgundy and black districts.

Full text of the opinion of the Slovak Football Association on the adopted measures / without editorial changes /:

“On Thursday, November 18, the Government of the Slovak Republic approved the new Covid machine, the proposal of which has been the subject of internal discussion at the government level since Tuesday (November 16). no opportunity to get acquainted with the changes that are planned from Monday (November 22.) After the publication of the materials, as is customary until a few hours after their approval by the government, we remained slightly paralyzed.

The SFZ takes full account of the current situation in hospitals, the record numbers of those infected and the fact that, according to experts, we are in the worst phase since the beginning of the pandemic. We will not argue about what exactly is behind it, but the low vaccination rate of the population has certainly also contributed to the current situation. We do not question the criticality of the situation and we fully agree that it was time to take appropriate changes and measures. We consider the result, which is the new Covid slot machine, to be inadequate. The new measures give the impression that it is a decision made with a hot needle to deal with a desperate situation. The measures are in logical conflict with each other, which makes them “ridiculous” in some places. After all, no one can seriously think of a limit of six spectators in the OTP mode (vaccination / testing / overcoming) or 200 in the OP mode (vaccination / overcoming) in the Red District at the open football stadium.

The sport gets another strong blow, moreover weakly from behind. The new Covid vending machine, which is declared temporary for three weeks (we already have experience with the temporary nature of some measures), throws the whole of Slovakia and all its districts in one bag today. One thing is the fans and professional competitions, the other even more essential thing is the game itself and the opportunity to train in amateur and youth sports. However, the new Covid slot machine killed the chance to finish amateur and youth competitions and also banned training, as it cannot play sports in a mode other than the OP protocol. What to add … We all know that it is not realistic at youth level and in the regions to ensure that the players themselves are vaccinated. Relying on overcoming the disease is completely misguided. At the same time, an inconspicuous change in the definition of a fully vaccinated person, which is considered to be a new child under 12 years of age with only a test, is honestly, a nail in the coffin of the youth competition and training process.

As for the participation of fans, the government did not make the effort to make it at least fair, albeit a stricter percentage limit, which takes into account the capacity of the space. It was not inspired by foreign countries and EU countries, of which we are a part, because e.g. in the Czech Republic and Austria, however, the stadiums for the vaccinated and the overcrowded are available without restriction. Yes, it may change, but the situation is current. The spectator scenery is cut out of our events, so if we do not take as a proper backdrop six spectators in the OTP mode in any district from the color red.

We repeat once again. We are fully aware of the crisis in Slovak hospitals, we do not alleviate the situation at all and we call on everyone to respect and support doctors and health professionals, just as we have been appealing to our members and the entire football community for half a year to be vaccinated.

However, we do not have the capacity to understand the re-establishment of total ignorance of the sports movement in policy-making. The new Covid vending machine was not born in two hours, and there was certainly such room for a brief discussion of solution alternatives. There probably was no will. We simply do not understand this decision about us, without us.

We believe that distrust of measures in society is no longer caused by the fact that the measures are unpopular and restrictive, it is caused by the form of their communication, or rather non-communication with the public well in advance before they are approved. And that sheds a bad light on the sports federations and associations themselves, which the public blames in the first place for restricting sports.

Yes, an emergency situation requires extraordinary solutions, but solutions that are extremely efficient and thoughtful, not just extraordinarily fast without meeting any other attributes. “

• The author: © List
• Source: TASR