Sport way down list of priorities as Covid-19 still causing chaos
Inside Track with John McIntyre
WHETHER us sports junkies like it or not, the last restriction to be relaxed in the fight against Covid-19 will be the ban on mass gatherings. And that understandable scenario means that it’s difficult to see any sport resuming before the end of June at least.
Basically, the country has come to a standstill – especially economically – and at a time when hundreds of families are grieving the loss of loved ones and thousands have lost their jobs, sport is well down the pecking order even if it provides plenty of employment and represents a glorious distraction for many.
The current restrictions won’t be altered until early May when, all going well, we may see Leaving Certificate students returning to classrooms in a socially distanced way; garden centres and DIY stores reopening; and some construction work getting the green light.
Assuming the occurrence of daily fatalities is near zero and a major drop in the number of positive tests, the Government and their medical advisers will only gradually relax the current restrictions. We all face nearly another three weeks of a virtual lockdown and none of us can say for certain what the next review of these measures will deliver.
Against that background, it is a fair bet that the return of sport won’t be happening anytime soon. Maybe there’s a chance of some horse racing going ahead behind closed doors given that the sport held a number of fixtures successfully before social distancing was rigorously enforced, but there is no guarantee of that. All in all, it’s a bleak outlook.
It’s tough on all sports and the GAA is no different. A few managers and players have called on the Association to draw up some contingency plans for when the action resumes, but that’s nearly an impossible brief as the mandarins in Croke Park know little more than what we do. Anything else, is just guesswork.
One thing that is becoming clear, however, is that club activity will recommence quicker than the inter-county scene. It makes sense as well as the crowds will be much smaller and there is a lot less travelling involved for supporters. Furthermore, if the All-Ireland hurling and football championships are forced back to September onwards, at least the inter-county grounds, many with floodlights, will be of such a standard to handle hostile early Winter weather much better.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.