The Ministry of Youth and Sports Development will on Friday, submit the COVID-19 sports code protocol to the Presidential Task Force on the pandemic and the National Assembly leadership towards a slight easing up of individual sporting activities and non contact sports.

A top source from the ministry disclosed that the Ministry spent the last 5 weeks working on the code which borrowed heavily from similar sporting codes from EPL, Laliga, World Athletics, and other sporting regimes.

The ministry also applied some aspects of the code developed by the committee on the EDO 2020 sports festival.

The department of federations prepared the initial draft and circulated to all sporting federations for their input. After a careful review a final document that has been bench marked and that also takes into cognizance Nigeria’s peculiar health situation, will be drafted.

The code has two special sections devoted to football protocols and non contact sport protocol. It will for sure recommend football with no spectators and compulsory testing for players who must camp 3 days before any game.

The ministry is also expected to make a case for the return of some non contact sports like tennis, swimming and others under very strict covid-19 protocol.

The document makes a strong case about the linkage of health and sports and will pave the way for the gradual return of sporting activities if approved.