SOME good sporting news has finally arrived amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with soccer set to return to training next week.
After the coronavirus closed much of the country down – with sport taking a big hit – it appears there is finally a light at the end of the tunnel.
Limestone Coast Football Association president Eric Nieto was pleased to receive notification training sessions can begin from May 11, under level B guidelines.
The return to a full season is still somewhat up in the air, but Nieto said it was a bit of good news to come out of the coronavirus delays.
“We are all allowed to go training on May 11, but it is still limited to level B restrictions, which means you can only have 10 people at once, including the coach,” he said.
“We still won’t be able to have spectators, but I haven’t looked right into that yet.”
The association was set to have a board meeting last night to discus the coronavirus and the possibility of a season ahead.
Nieto said he expected all sports would be in a similar situation in the short term and would hope to see games begin within three weeks.
“Most of the clubs were right into their pre-season before all this happened, so they are all fit and young and ready to go,” he said.
“It will be just a matter of getting them all together.
“By the time you have registrations and everything, I would say three weeks from then, probably the end of May for a season start.”
Rather than play a shorter cup-style season, Nieto said the preferred option would be a full premiership draw.
“The way I see it, every sporting club, whether football or soccer, we all need the cash for the year,” he said.
“At the end of the day if you run a cup-style season you would not achieve anything because the clubs wouldn’t be making any money.
“With a full home-and-away round the clubs will have the chance to recoup some money.”
For clubs to be able to make money there would need to be crowds in attendance, which is still not on the table at this stage.
“If you have the expense to run the season and you are not allowed to have the crowds back, you can’t make money,” he said.
“That will be a decision probably made by the clubs.
“We can put together a season, but then the clubs have to agree to their finances.”
Of course that could also see soccer push into the summer sport season, but it was something Nieto said would simply have to be dealt with.
“If the season does go a bit longer – it might be October or the beginning of November – so be it,” he said.
“It might encroach on other sports, but that is something we all have to deal with.
“It is a one-off.”
Nieto said if other sports such as hockey were up and running and required an extra pitch, he would do what was required to help out.
While there is still plenty of scenarios to work through, Nieto said it was a positive for sport in general.
“It is a bit of good news,” he said.
