Covid-19 case won’t affect PSL restart – Dr Phalane
Dr Mahlane Phalane, who is currently working with the PSL, said that what happened to Orlando Pirates midfielder Ben Motshwari won’t affect the idea of playing behind closed doors should the PSL proposal to restart the league succeed.
Ben Motshwari of Orlando Pirates (Photo by Gallo Images)
On Thursday, Pirates confirmed that the midfielder had tested positive for Covid-19.
READ: Pirates star tests positive for Covid-19
“No, not necessarily, it is not an obstacle in the PSL’s bid to resume action. We can create a level environment,” Phalane told Independent Media.
“Had we implemented our plan a long time ago, the risk for these players contracting the virus would be much lower. If we were isolated with strict control measures, we would have been in a better position. But for now, players are mingling with their families and friends. They can even go to malls. The risk is much higher now as we speak than if we were to implement the interventions that we proposed,” Phalane explained.
“Our first proposal is to say, ‘let us test them wherever they are’. We’ve already got six Premier League teams in Gauteng, three in Limpopo, three in KwaZulu-Natal, two in Western Province and one in Eastern Cape. Then everyone who is negative can move and we can bring them to Gauteng and isolate them for 14 days. Even within the team, make sure that they don’t interact because, if one player is positive, he is going to spread it.
“In essence, we can have another pre-season in one season. In two weeks, there will be no multi-contact activities. After that we can test them for a second time; if they are negative, then they can have limited interaction as a team. So, if you’ve tested negative twice, what risk is there? We’ve created level one and below for them to be able to resume,” he added.
Meanwhile, the PSL executive committee on Thursday mapped the way forward for the 2019/20 season.
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