BY HENRY MHARA FC PLATINUM coach Norman Mapeza is worried about the resurgence of the COVID-19 cases in the country, which has sparked fears of another total shutdown of domestic sporting activities.
COVID-19 new infections in the country have been rising steadily in the past few days, with over 5 000 positive cases recorded in the last 100 hours to bring the total cases since the onset of the pandemic to over 141 601.
Speaking after his team had lifted the Chibuku Super Cup following their penalty shoot-out triumph over Ngezi Platinum Stars at Mandava Stadium in Zvishavane on Sunday, Mapeza said he feared that the Premier Soccer League (PSL) programme could be disrupted if the recent spike of new cases was not contained.
The Chibuku Super Cup tournament, which started in May this year, only concluded at the weekend after it was suspended in July for two months due to the rise in local cases.
“Again it’s (COVID-19) back, we have to be very careful. We have to look after ourselves,” Mapeza warned.
He said he felt the difficult environment that characterised this year’s edition of the Chibuku Super tournament made their Sunday victory sweeter.
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“For us, it’s a massive achievement considering where we are coming from with this COVID-19 and things like that, so it’s massive for the club,” said Mapeza, who also guided the team to their 2014 title.
“Everybody wanted the tournament just to continue without any disruptions because the moment you have gained momentum and you ended up not playing football again, then you disrupt everything. You have to come back to zero, so it was going to be OK if we had continued with the tournament (without a disruption). But what can we do with COVID-19?”
Mapeza said his side would have to quickly shift focus to the league programme with match day three fixtures scheduled for the weekend.
But it’s not clear if the matches will go ahead as scheduled after the PSL last week announced that a number of positive cases had been recorded among clubs.
PSL did not give specific details, but reports suggest that Bulawayo City is the hardest hit with eight players as well as head coach Philani “Beefy” Ncube having returned positive test results for COVID-19.
Premier league football only returned in November this year after a year’s absence due to COVID-19.
- Follow Henry on Twitter @henrymhara