Street football has taking over every nook and cranny in Kano, while some individuals who doubt the alarming figures reported ...
The recent One-Day football competition organized in Kano State northern part of Nigeria which the video had gone online amidst the lockdown directive clearly shows there is still a strong belief that covid19 is a myth.
The video which was recorded by one of the fans and shared online shows a football scene with a large crowd around it while the fan who recorded the match made a comment in Hausa language.
His comment when translated to English implies: “There is lockdown about the coronavirus and people of Kano are acting indifferent as if it’s none of their business, lets pray that God will protect them if it gets out of hand and it need to be taken seriously”.
As at time of filing this report, Kano state is the third most affected Covid-19 state in Nigeria, with 73 cases, no report of recovered case and one confirmed death.
Sports Intelligence Magazine sought to gather more fact about the Covid-19 football tournament and our source who spoke to us from Kano, confirmed that the state is currently a beehive of football activities, particularly in most populated areas.
Street football has taken over every nook and cranny in Kano, while some individuals who doubt the alarming figures reported globally on death cases from coronavirus see playing football as a panacea for addressing the boredom which the stay-home directive has caused.
For a state considered to be the most populated in Nigeria with a population figure of 9,401,288 and closely followed by Lagos which has 9,113,605 according to 2019 statistics, it is extremely dangerous to allow such continue.
The format for the One-Day football tournament is such that several football teams take part in the tournament and the final played between 4-6pm. Interestingly, registration for participation has been monetized and participating teams were allowed to pay before they take part in the competition.
Aside the tournament flouting the social distance order, it also has no regard for the FIFA 48-hour recommended rest period, which allows for rest before the next match as all matches are played within the same day.
The tournament which came in form of a Gala with several teams participating, were played in an open field at Karna Gobirawa in Dala LGA, a local government considered to be heavily populated with a population of 418,777 according to census population of 2006.
Unfortunately, the Covid-19 football tournament is coming at a point when global and international sports federations are postponing and suspending sporting event with the desire to salvage the existence of mankind.
The flouting of the World Health Organization Direction on Social Distancing, wearing of face masks, avoiding of social gathering amongst others by the organizers of the Covid-19 Football tournament is a clear indication that the lockdown measure employed may eventually be termed counterproductive.
Only time will tell if the Covid-19 football tournament had a negative or positive impact in the lives of those who gathered to ease off boredom by watching football matches..
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