Egyptian league football could face further suspension if Covid-19 sees a surge in cases over the next few weeks, a senior government official told local media on Friday.
Speaking during a phone-in programme, Youth and Sports Minister Ashraf Sobhy said if the country becomes unsafe again due to rising incidents of the virus, sporting events could be put on hold for an indefinite period.
League football and other sporting events were suspended in Egypt four months ago as the country battled one of the worst rates of infection in Africa.
Egypt, the first to report a coronavirus infection on the continent in March has since registered 71, 299 cases, 3, 120 deaths and 19, 288 recoveries as of Friday July 3rd 2020.
The Egyptian Football Association will restart league matches on August 7, a decision backed by Sport minister Sobhy who reminded the country’s biggest clubs including Al-Ahly and Zamalek to continue to apply strict health safety regulations as recommended by the Ministry of Health.
He praised the decision by clubs to reduce the seating capacity in their restaurants to optimize the benefits of social distancing.
He however warned that “if anything happens to affect the health of the players, the league will be suspended.”
Egypt’s top tier football will resume on August 7 with matches that were postponed following the outbreak of Covid-19 and will be done in two phases according to the EFA’s Director of Competitions Hossam al-Zanaty.
Details of these phases will be made public in a matter of days, Zanaty said.
WN/as/APA