Pressure on Sport Ireland to revisit Government directive on full return of indoor sport

Pressure is mounting on Sport Ireland to urgently revisit the latest Government directive on the return to indoor sport, which requires the use of a Covid-19 certificate (vaccine or recovery) for accessing all indoor sporting activities and events.

While elite senior players are exempt, the issue concerns underage training and match participation, not just given the fact the under-12 category have yet to be approved for vaccination but also because it is not permitted to ask under-18s of their vaccination status, many schools and club competitions up to that age group are also being cancelled.

According to the latest eight-page document released by Sport Ireland, it is envisioned that these measures will remain in place until approximately February 2022.

Where individuals have mixed immunity status, pods of up to six participants is permitted (excluding adult coaches/instructors); for vaccinated individuals no fixed capacity limits apply to these activities; vaccinated spectators attending indoor sporting events should be fully seated.

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Basketball Ireland are among the governing bodies of sport to highlight their concern, after cancelling all schools and juvenile competitions over the weekend. In the meantime, senior national league and internationals can proceed; Basketball Ireland are awaiting further feedback from Sport Ireland.

Other indoor sports impacted by the directive include squash and volleyball, Squash Ireland this week issuing a statement of information to their membership as to why underage competitions have also been cancelled for the time being.

“It is clear from the guidelines that a greater range of activities is feasible where all participants provide proof of immunity to Covid-19 infection. The board of Irish Squash wants to ensure that our sport can restart for as many people as possible both within our clubs and at competitive events.

“Therefore we have agreed that for any tournament that is open to players from more than one club, all participants must provide proof of immunity to Covid-19 as a condition of entry. This applies to all senior and masters competitions. It also applies to any junior entering into a senior event.

“The situation for U12 and U18 players in junior competitions is unclear at present and Sport Ireland have requested clarification on this from the Department of Sport. Whilst awaiting this information, we cannot proceed with junior competitions listed on our calendar. We appreciate that this is a difficult situation for many people and we will provide a further update as soon as possible.”