Varsity Cup extends break between bubbles after Covid-setback
After players from Tuks, who were supposed to be in isolation as part of a Covid bubble, tested positive for the virus, the Varsity Cup tournament schedule will now have to be changed.
The third Varsity Cup bubble in Pretoria has been pushed out by a week after the setback that caused last week’s match between the two leading teams on the log, Tuks and Ikeys, to be cancelled in line with Covid-19 protocols.
This happened after three Tuks players tested positive for Covid-19. The three players, their roommates at the Tuks High-Performance Centre and other close contacts were removed from the Varsity Cup Village, which meant that Tuks was unable to field a team for Friday’s match against Ikeys.
Both teams have agreed that the match cannot be rescheduled to take place during the third Varsity Cup bubble, as it would result in too many games in a short space of time and have a negative impact on their preparations for the semi-finals and possible final.
Therefore, in line with the Varsity Cup byelaws, the match was declared a 0-0 draw with both teams receiving two log points.
The tournament will now resume on Monday, 17 May, with the final taking place on 31 May.
Friday’s Round 6 matches were the last of the second FNB Varsity Cup bubble, which had begun on 22 April.
“It was always our intention to complete the tournament by the end of May, because of university examinations in June. As such, we built in a buffer week to deal with any unknowns that would require us to re-shuffle dates,” explained Varsity Cup Tournament Director Xhanti-Lomzi Nesi.
He said during discussions with the member universities after the second bubble, they agreed that an additional week’s break before the third bubble would serve the entire competition well.
Nesi said the extended break would allow for more Covid-19 testing to take place and give injured players more time to recover ahead of the business end of the tournament.
“As always, our main priority is ensuring the health and safety of all our student athletes and management staff,” he concluded.
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