Although the medical fraternity has not found a vaccine to stop the spread of the coronavirus, Dr Nasief van der Schyff, the newly-appointed head of Safa Cape Town’s coronavirus task-team, did his best to help put a stop to all footballing activities.
Unlike other sporting organisations, soccer’s governing body was initially reluctant to put soccer on hold. However, in a letter to Safa president,Danny Jordaan, Van der Schyff says he made a strong case against such a move which the soccer authorities ultimately agreed with.
He was then co-opted on to Safa Cape Town’s medical committee and tasked with implementing a strategy to combat the spread of the virus.
Van der Schyff, head of juniors at Tramways FC, told the Plainsman the committee has met over the past week and has given recommendations and guidance to the football community in Cape Town, regarding the virus.
“We are in a difficult time and the importance of social distancing, the importance of proper preventative measures and we need to limit the number of infections.
“Last week I wrote a letter to Safa president Danny Jordaan and the comment I made was about the PSL being played behind closed doors.
“Some of us who watch the media saw that the minister of sport announced that football can be played behind closed doors at PSL level.
“I subsequently engaged Safa Cape Town and thereafter wrote another letter to Jordaan advising as to why, medically, that (playing indoors) cannot be allowed to happen,” he said.
“I believe that thinking out of the box is important. So, for example, if you have a ball, you can do a lot at home. We have to maintain social distancing, we are confined to our homes but we need to use the opportunity to think out of the box.
“We now have the power of technology. One can do a lot of work at home. What’s very important is for clubs not to stop because, for example, we trained hard for the past two months and to lose that sharpness, that fitness, will be sad and we don’t know how long this is going to go on for,” he said.