Pressure on some of the nation’s sports facilities, especially those at the Accra Sports Stadium has eased following the directives to avoid all gatherings due to the coronavirus pandemic that has rocked the entire globe.
Barely two weeks after the announcement which was complied by sports federations, sports activities seem to have grinded to a halt, leaving the usually hard-pressed facilities for a few ‘bold’ athletes to patronize.
The DG Hathiramani Sports Hall at the Accra Stadium remains one of the heavily patronized facilities as it serves as host to several numbers of sporting activities.
When the Times Sports visited the facility, yesterday, it was empty with none of the athletes that train there on sight.
It serves as the main training centre for the national boxing team, the Black Bombers and the Black Loopers, the national table tennis team.
Players for other sports disciplines including badminton, judo, taekwondo and other indoor sports also train there but it appears abandoned now due to the pandemic.
Head Coach of the Black Bombers, Ofori Asare told the Times Sports yesterday that the team has had to put their usual training schedule on hold to observe the prescribed protocols to fight the pandemic.
But that, he said, does not mean the boxers are not training.
“Officially we are not camping. We broke camp after the Senegal qualifiers but were to resume training just around the time we were asked to avoid gatherings.
“However, every boxer is supposed to train on his own as well as work with a schedule by the GBF technical team to ensure that the boxers stay in shape.”
The Media Centre of the facility also appeared abandoned with no activity around.
When contacted, a source at the NSA indicated that it has been inaccessible to the public as a result of the directive.
“We have to ensure that the directive from the presidency and the health authorities are adhered to. We have been told to promote social distancing to avoid contact with infected people.
The source said “allowing people to use the centre would mean that the Authority regulate the number of people to be in attendance; a situation that may not augur well for the organizer so at the moment, there are no activities.
According to the source, a few athletes still patronize the facility but do so under strict conditions to ensure everyone was safe.
BY ANDREW NORTEY
