By Alvin Moyo, Football Writer
Bulawayo fans’ plans for a busy weekend of football games have been hindered by a coronavirus outbreak at three of the four clubs domiciled in the city.
A number of first-team players and members of the coaching staff at Highlanders, Chicken Inn and Bulawayo City last week tested positive and all three clubs immediately called off training sessions.
With away league games against Manica Diamonds, Tenax and Whawha for the three Bulawayo clubs, respectively, this weekend the clubs’ preparations have been severely impacted and all three matches could be called off by the league.
All three Bulawayo clubs named have had more than seven cases reported with City the hardest hit with a reported eight players and one member of the coaching staff testing positive and being sequestered at Ekusileni Hospital since Thursday last week.
Ahead of this weekend’s matches, Bosso’s Mandla Mpofu, Chicken Inn’s Joey Antipas and Bulawayo City’s Philani ‘Beefy’ Ncube will all be hoping that there are no more positive tests.
Calling these three games off appears highly likely as standing PSL COVID-19 protocols dictate that if a club has at least seven positive cases, their fixtures will be postponed.
If the situation does worsen, the clubs could consider asking the Premier League to call off their games. The league works on a case-by-case basis and if a club does request a game to be postponed, it would be a Premier League decision.
