Adhere to SOPs to enjoy more leeway, Minister tells sports sector

KUALA LUMPUR: Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican has urged industry players in the sports and recreation sector to strictly comply with the current standard operating procedures (SOP), so that they can enjoy even more flexibility to operate after this.

He said the SOP compliance rate was very important in order to convince the government, and the National Security Council (MKN) in particular, to give permission to open the sports sector in phases.

He also stressed that the situation when the first Movement Control Order (MCO) was implemented last year and MCO 2.0 now was not the same, as the daily number of COVID-19 cases now was in the thousands, compared to only a few hundred last year.

“I urge those in the sports industry to take this opportunity to show that the sports community is a community with a high rate of compliance, which can be an example of the ‘kita jaga kita’ (we take care of each other) concept which is often emphasised.

"It is certainly a complicated process, but in the situation where we want to find a balance between continuing with our lives and curbing the spread of this pandemic, we have to do these things (find the middle ground)," he said when met by Bernama at the Bukit Kiara Rakan Muda Complex, yesterday.

On Tuesday (Feb 9), Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced that the government would allow teams competing in the Malaysian League (M-League), Malaysian Hockey League (MHL) and Sepak Takraw League (STL) to start training under the sports bubble concept beginning Feb 15.

Two days later (Feb 11), he announced that more sports activities were allowed, including playing singles games for badminton, ping-pong and tennis, while individual training was allowed for sports such as football and basketball without involving any physical contact.

Commenting further, Reezal Merican said his ministry had to take the middle ground to allow sports facilities such as football fields, futsal and badminton courts to operate with strict SOPs, for the survival of those involved in the industry.

"We sympathise with the operators of sports facilities because if the fields or courts are closed, no one will go out to play, thus affecting the income of operators, their employees and there are other spillover effects as well," he said.

Reezal Merican added that he himself would be going on to the field to monitor compliance with the SOPs, while the establishment of the Rakan Muda - Sports Bubble Volunteers (SBV) is also believed to help with the compliance factor.

Meanwhile, he said those involved in the 2021 M-League who breached the sports bubble protocol would be isolated.

Among the strict requirements of the sports bubble are to undergo camp-based and home-based quarantine procedures before being allowed to participate.

“If isolated, then they need to go through all the procedures like taking swab tests and undergoing quarantine for three days before getting into the bubble again,” he said, adding that the ministry was still in discussions with the National Sports Council (MSN), Malaysian Football League (MFL) and clubs involved to find the most practical way to conduct the season.

-- BERNAMA