Fandom conundrum
... Debate rages on after Govt’s decision to ban fans from Jamaica, Canada WCQ
Published:Friday | October 8, 2021 | 12:10 AMDaniel Wheeler/Staff Reporter
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The decision by the Jamaican Government to continue the delay of fans returning to the National Stadium for World Cup qualifying games has ignited passionate, widespread debate, with medical professionals Dr Akshai Mansingh and Dr Wykeham McNeill,...
The decision by the Jamaican Government to continue the delay of fans returning to the National Stadium for World Cup qualifying games has ignited passionate, widespread debate, with medical professionals Dr Akshai Mansingh and Dr Wykeham McNeill, who both boast strong sporting involvement, weighing in with conflicting views.
Local Government Minister Desmond McKenzie announced on Wednesday that Jamaica’s crucial home qualifying match against Canada on Sunday will be played without fans in attendance.
The Jamaica Football Federation, which requested to have vaccinated fans attend the match, did not specify the number of spectators it proposed to have inside the venue.
However, McKenzie in a statement on Wednesday said that no exemptions would be given in this case because Sunday is a designated no-movement day, and that they are still not in a position to accommodate such crowds due to the current COVID-19 situation.
Mansingh, a sports medicine physician and orthopaedic surgeon, who heads The University of West Indies’ Faculty of Sports and has worked with a number of local and regional teams, described the situation as a missed opportunity to incentivise persons to take the shot.
“I think it is an opportunity lost and, unfortunately, for most of the other countries, the idea of bringing spectators as an incentive measure was brought on by the government, not by the sporting bodies,” Mansingh told The Gleaner. “But that doesn’t seem to be the case here.”
SLOW VACCINATIONS
However, McNeill, a medical professional and former vice-president of the Opposition People’s National Party, believes that given the slow uptake in vaccinations in the country, it is still too much of a risk to allow large gatherings, albeit at a limited capacity. Additionally, he said that the number may not have been sufficient to give a true home advantage.
“Our vaccination rates are still very low and it is just for the safety of the country, it is important to be as cautious as possible until we can get the vaccination rates to a more acceptable level,” McNeil said. “If you were to bring in a small number, if you were to say bring in a few, I don’t think you would still get that effect of the 12th man. Given that you are not going to achieve the ultimate goal, I still think that it is better to be safe than sorry at this stage.”
McNeill was a member of Jamaica’s medical team to 1996 Olympic Games and has also worked with the Reggae Boyz in the past. He also sat on the board of the Sports Development Foundation.
According to the Ministry of Health vaccination tracker, over 800,000 persons have taken at least their first shot of a COVID-19 vaccine, with nearly 300,000 persons being fully vaccinated (265,257 persons have taken their second dose and 31,671 using the single-dose vaccine).
SPORTING EVENTS
Despite the Government’s reluctance to approve spectators at other sporting events, horse racing, which was the first sport to return after the outbreak, is currently operating with limited spectators at Caymanas Park on race days.
The racing schedule had to be adjusted in light of the recent restrictions, which include no-movement days on Sundays.
Mansingh says that given the direction that the rest of the world is moving in to allow fully vaccinated persons access to sporting events, inoculated persons should be able to safely return to games.
“We have a very high positivity rate with a Delta variant in an unvaccinated population, and the likelihood of it spreading among unvaccinated people especially is very great. We know that this can spread among vaccinated people but the rate of spread is far less than the unvaccinated and the consequences are far less grim,” Mansingh said.
“Therefore, if you are worried about the spread and the high positivity then you have to recognise that it is among unvaccinated people and tell them to stay home, allow the vaccinated people, masked and distanced, to come to the stadium in a safe way,” he added.
Jamaica’s first home qualifying game against Panama last month was also played without spectators, with the Jamaicans losing 3-0.