May 1 – Brazil may be in meltdown following the haphazard policies and incendiary rants of its president Jair Bolsonaro in response to the coronavirus pandemic, but the CBF and the country’s clubs are seeking a structured way out of the health crisis by drawing up plans for a resumption of training.
The CBF has sent a health protocol to the federal government that was drawn up by club doctors and external experts, including Brazil national team doctor Rodrigo Lasmar, Flamengo’s doctor Márcio Tannure and virologist Serio Wey from Sao Paulo’s famous Albert Einstein hospital. They drew from foreign know-how, consulting protocols used in Spain, Portugal, Japan and by German clubs Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen.
The recommendations include training sessions in separated groups with social distancing, not using the dressing rooms and players arriving at practice in their training kits. The document also stresses the need for testing at clubs across the country, but it remains unclear who would be responsible for the tests’ acquisition; the clubs, the state federations or the CBF?
Brazil’s head of state Bolsonaro said that football players in Brazil have “a small chance of dying” from the Coronavirus and called for football to return to action in the country. “The football authorities have already come to me,” said Bolsonaro. “And if it depends on me they have my vote [for a quick return]”.
Bolsonaro remains one of the few head of states in the world to downplay the danger of the pandemic. On March 15, football in Brazil came gradually to a standstill, but the national league had been scheduled to kick-off in May following the conclusion of the state championships.
“There has been a request from the CBF to evaluate the return of football behind closed doors,” said Nelson Teich, who has replaced Luis Mandetta as Brazil’s new health minister. “We’re still studying it. But these are initiatives which, in some way, could help bring a better routine for people, because the shutdown has a very negative impact on the well-being of the population.”
Brazil’s calendar is at best complicated with the antiquated state championships at the start of the calendar year preceding the national league. The entire season is out of sync with the rest of the world. The coronavirus shutdown has only exacerbated the issue, begging the question if there is enough space to cram the remaining fixtures of the state championships into what remains of the calendar year without damaging the national league?
Earlier this week, Brazil’s football confederation said in a statement that football should return “whenever it is possible, with safety and health care assurances for all those involved.”
1994 World Cup winner and Sao Paulo FC director Rai has however criticised Bolsonaro, calling for the president’s resignation because of his “irresponsible” management of the crisis.
In Brazil, the daily death toll has recently overtaken Italy and the country may become the next epicenter of the pandemic. Brazil has registered 87,187 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 6,006 people have passed away after contracting the disease, according to the latest data of the Johns Hopkins University.
Contact the writer of this story, Samindra Kunti, at moc.l1714189652labto1714189652ofdlr1714189652owedi1714189652sni@o1714189652fni1714189652