Burundi: Football Championship Continues Despite Coronavirus

Text by: David Kalfa Follow

Meeting in General Assembly on April 5, 2020, the Burundi Football Federation decided that its various competitions would continue, despite the first cases of coronavirus detected in the country. No in camera during matches, either. The local authorities advocate the respect of barrier gestures (hand washing, distancing ...) during the meetings.

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The 28th day of the Burundi Football Championship, the Primus League, will take place on April 11 and 12, 2020, as scheduled. While the ball is stopped almost everywhere on the planet, except in a handful of territories ( Belarus , Tajikistan ...), Burundian football has decided to continue its activities. And this despite the global coronavirus pandemic and the first cases of Covid-19 detected in the country.

Thus decided the Federation (FFB), gathered this April 5, 2020: " After consultation and health and technical clarifications of the Minister of Health Dr Thadée Ndikumana, the General Assembly (of the FFB) decides that the championships of first and second division continue to be played while observing the hygiene measures on the stages and the distance. "

Respect barrier gestures

No camera, therefore. Spectators will still be admitted to the stadiums. They will have to observe some barrier gestures " such as hand washing and taking the temperature [...] before entering, " said the Minister of Health.

As for the players, they will observe certain precautions: " Prohibition of greetings by touching their hands " and prohibition of " grouping to celebrate the scoring of goal "; " Taking distance from the referees during the impact observations on the field ". " Fair play is also prohibited, " is it also highlighted on the FFB Facebook page.

Pressure on clubs?

Instructions that have also left some internet users skeptical. " What about duels ?" You can't avoid contact in football. It is not a racket sport ”, underlines a first. " Please stop everything, you are playing with fire, " says a second.

Others, on the contrary, welcomed the decision to continue the Burundian competitions. " Thank you very much, Minister and the FFB for your kind decision ," wrote another internet user. Burundi is a sovereign and secular state, and has full power to make its own decisions . ”

According to Agence France Presse , which cites a source who requested anonymity, the president of the Burundi Football Federation, Révérien Ndikuriyo, weighed in on this decision. The one who is also the president of the Senate would have threatened the clubs giving up playing forfeit and other sanctions.

" Not for CAF to comment on the decisions of States or Federations"

In Burundi, local authorities show their serenity in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, while general elections are scheduled for May 2020.

What about the world of football? Both the International Federation (FIFA) and the African Confederation (CAF) have been in favor of stopping competitions, to help stem the tide of Covid-19. Gérémi Njitap, vice-president of FIFPro, the world footballers' union, was surprised by the choices made. " It is unthinkable for us that the Federation endangers the health of players and spectators, which is why we dare to hope that this decision is based on solid and indisputable medical data ," said the Cameroonian at rfi.fr. That said, given the scale of the pandemic, we regret that the precautionary principle has not been retained . ”

Asked by Le Monde Afrique, on March 31, about the choice of the FFB and Burundi to continue playing football, Ahmad, the boss of CAF, proved fatalistic. This was before cases were detected in this country. " It is not the role of CAF to comment on the decisions that are the responsibility of the States, or of the National Federations ", reiterated the Malagasy to rfi.fr, this April 6.

Geremi, however, ensures that " CAF will send correspondence to the Burundian Football Federation. This is one of the resolutions of the restricted meeting that we have had today with our CAF partners , ”said the former Real Madrid defender.

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