Luis Cereijo: 'We must keep the security measures in sports competitions'

Luis Cereijo Tejedor, UAH researcher in the Public Health and Epidemiology Group and professor of the degree of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences, gives the keys in the process of reactivation of sports competitions after the confinement produced by the pandemic of coronavirus.

-What supposes the return of the sports competitions after the coronavirus crisis? What do you advise to develop this process as epidemiologist?

It is important to note that the health crisis is still in place. We have managed to reduce infections and deaths significantly, which has been achieved through a severe confinement of the population and an excessive effort of our sanitary system. This makes the eventual return of sports competitions a decision that is not risk-free.

-What sports and competitions do you think have a more difficult return after the pandemic? Which ones can make a return in an easy way?

Co-oppositional sports carry a greater risk during the development of the game. Physical contact is constant and inevitable without changing the nature of the game. While individual sports that do not share play space (for example, individual tennis) have a lower risk during the course of the match, there is no risk-free sports mode.

We are not talking about isolated matches, but about the development of a competition. The increase in potential contacts represents an increased risk of contagion, and that risk is not only for the sportsmen, but for the whole set of workers who supervise and guarantee the development of a competition.

-In a sports event, the public is an essential part. What do you think will happen to the audience at sports shows?

The presence of an audience ‌in sport events should be subject to the evolution of the pandemic and to the controls established by the Ministry of Health. It is important not to forget that we continue to share every day with the virus. It means that social distancing measures must be maintained to avoid a new peak of contagion that can saturate our health systems. It seems that the return of the general public at sports events is not possible right now.

-Spain´s Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, declared a few days ago that the sports competitions return on June 9. What impressions did this decision give you? Do you think there are some sports or competitions better prepared than others?

Unfortunately, this situation will highlight the inequalities which exist between sports. The development of competitions in the context of the pandemic involves the implementation of a series of prevention measures that are associated with a high economic cost. This adaptation can only be allowed by certain competitions, so the return to competition will not be decided by epidemiological criteria, but by economic criteria. Something that's always negative.

-What protocols do you think are necessary for the return of competitions?

This is a rather complicated matter. First, it is important to note that, today, there is no protocol that can guarantee the safety of participants. Every protocol tries to reduce the contagion risk, but it cannot prevent it completely. On the basis of this premise, we should look for ways to maintain, as far as possible, the measures of social distancing and prophylaxis that the Administrations are recommending.

However, it is not difficult to think about how highly complicated it is in sports modalities where not only is there constant physical contact,but there is shared element, such as the game ball.

Luis Cereijo Servicio Deportes interior vertical 400x600
Luis Cereijo

The testing policy should also be subject to the strategy of the Center for Coordination of Health Alerts and Emergencies (CCAES) and other health administrations. Public health of the population must remain a priority in all fields. And all this takes on a greater complexity when we talk about transnational sports competitions, as different governments, different evolutions of the pandemic, etcetera, are involved.

-In relation to safety in sports competitions, will it be common during the coming months?

Without any doubt. The federal authorities must assume that this situation will be extended in the coming year. We will be approaching a 2020-21 season that may have eventual new intermittent confinement. This situation is incompatible with the current competitive framework, in which some sports already have a very overloaded schedule.

It is essential to re-formulate the competitions to be able to compete again with a few minimal guarantees. The competitive calendar must have mechanisms to deal with eventual stoppages of competition, or outbreaks of contagion on some teams. Until we have not only a vaccine, but a vaccination plan implemented in the population, the situation will remain uncertain.

 

 

Publicado en: Inglés