Nigerian Government Not Ready To Restart Sporting Activities

The chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19 and Secretary to the federal government, Boss Mustapha, has revealed that sporting activities will remain suspended until further notice.

The Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) has been on hold since March due to the outbreak of the Coronavirus.

While some restrictions have been lifted in some states, according to Mustapha, the Government will allow sporting activities at the right time when it is safe to do so.

Nigeria has recorded over 15,000 cases with 385 deaths.

“I’m not sure we are excited about opening sporting activities in our country, particularly soccer [football], which attracts large crowds,” Mustapha told the media on Friday.

“If our guidelines say large gatherings are banned and not to exceed 20 persons except for places of work, I don’t see the excitement if we allow soccer to return to an empty stadium.

“A lot of European countries where these games have started are big businesses, and they are doing it carefully and gradually.

“We are not excited about allowing sports to return, we will get there, but for now, we are concerned with the few activities permitted to reopen.

“We will continue to review the situation, know how we are faring, study the situation and know what next to do based on data, science and the peculiarity of our environment.”