Times Of Swaziland: PLE PLAYERS’ MIXED REACTIONS ON BUNDESLIGA RETURN

PLE PLAYERS’ MIXED REACTIONS ON BUNDESLIGA RETURN
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Sanele Jele on 18/05/2020 08:27:00


MBABANE - On Saturday, the German Bundesliga returned to action but there were
mixed reactions from local players.
The Sports Desk interviewed some local players; while others were optimistic
that this was the beginning of good things to come for football in general,
others felt the Premier League of Eswatini should not restart the season unless
they have all the precautionary measures in place. Interestingly, information
gathered from BBC sport revealed the new reality in the return of football.
There were screens inside the stadium which were displaying messages on how to
minimise the spread of the virus. It was observed how some players celebrated by
bumping elbows while it was also interesting that some players would celebrate
by running towards empty stands. Notably, fans were not allowed into the
stadiums and about 200 people were given entry into the stadium.
Allowed
That included players, coaches, media and paramedics and police officers to
mention a few. All those who were allowed in were tested for the coronavirus and
temperature checks were done. Police officers had to patrol the stadium to
ensure that fans could not congregate outside the stadium. There was also social
distancing among the substitutes while coaches were allowed to manoeuvre without
masks so as to shout instructions to the players.  Another interesting fact is
that teams used FIFA’s recommendations of five substitutes. The media was
allowed to interview players and coaches from a safe distance. There were 30
match balls, each of them disinfected by ball boys and left on special spots
rather than handing them to players.
Manzini Wandereres captain Lwazi ‘Shana’ Maziya said he was glad that at
least there is light at the end of the tunnel. “It’s a tricky one, on the
one hand I am glad they are finding ways to navigate the situation, of course
there are risks but they are finding ways to mitigate them. We can only learn
from their experience,” Maziya said. “My concern would be under-resourced
countries following suit without the means to take all the necessary
precautions.