Absa Premiership
2020-05-20 17:37
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Pretoria High Performance Centre (Gallo Images) |
A number of sporting facilities will be made available when the Premier Soccer League (PSL) is given the go-ahead to complete the 2019/20 season.
A proposal to complete the Absa Premiership and GladAfrica Championship in a camp-style scenario is being considered, where all staff and officials could potentially be housed.
Sun City Resort in the North West province has reportedly been put forward as a potential option, while the Royal Bafokeng Sport, the University of Pretoria’s High-Performance Centre and the University of North West’s High Performance Institute of Sport are also possible considerations.
Royal Bafokeng Sports consultant Emile Smith told TimesLIVE: “Royal Bafokeng Sport would welcome the opportunity to explore and assist South African sports‚ including football and rugby‚ as a potential venue that can play host to games‚ and as a preparation venue for the resumption of sports leagues in a controlled and secured environment.
“We have the sports infrastructure at our facilities‚ we have the high-performance centre gymnasium‚ medical suites‚ playing and practice grounds supported by two hotels.
“We also have several more isolated and independent hotel facilities within a 20km radius that can be scaled and managed for this purpose once national and provincial regulations allow for the safe return of sport with limited impact on resources required against the Covid-19 fight.”
The High-Performance Centre chief executive officer Toby Sutcliffe added: “We will be keen to help but we are bound by what the minister of higher education (Blade Nzimande) said‚ that we can’t open up our facility because we are on a university property.
“If they say that we can open up the facility‚ we will do that and obviously we will follow all the necessary health and safety guidelines that we are supposed to adhere to.
“We have 40 twin rooms and six single rooms available and of the 40 twin rooms‚ 20 have 4 beds and 20 have two beds. When it comes to gyms‚ we have two and there are two swimming pools. Field wise‚ we have eight playing fields that we can use. However, if the minister opens up some codes like swimming‚ I am going to then lose a swimming pool.”
High Performance Institute director Jean Verster, meanwhile, explained: “We do have the facilities, but the university is closed at the moment because of the lockdown.
“We will be keen to help out, but everything is going to depend on the directives from government and approval by the university’s top management.
“We have the sports village where the Spanish national team stayed when they won the World Cup in 2010. It is situated right next to the football fields and we also have the high performance centre.”
– TEAMtalk media
