Daniel Avellaneda
07/21/2020 - 20:21
- Clarín.com
- sports
The advance of the coronavirus in Argentina, expressed in the record of deaths that had been registered this Monday -and that was surpassed with a new record of cases and fatalities this Tuesday-, generated a change in plans about the return to practices of soccer teams. As Clarín published , from the Ministry of Health they asked to postpone the meeting with the AFA for that matter until next week. In that sense, this Tuesday there was a communication between Ginés González García, in charge of the health portfolio, and Claudio Tapia, head of Viamonte. With a request from Chiqui that will be materialized on Monday of next week, at the latest: that the teams that play the Copa Libertadores begin to train before the rest.
Will it be Boca, River, Racing, Defense and Justice and Tigre, then, who will take the first step in the return of football? The Conmebol fixture, which marked the beginning of the participation of Argentine clubs for September 17, accelerated the efforts of the top honcho of the AFA. And the premise of starting everyone in "phase 4" , as Tapia had said three weeks ago? It will not resist archiving because the situation will force the pieces to move "gradually".
That term was used by government officials who demonstrated in the last hours. From Alberto Fernández to Matías Lammens, Minister of Tourism and Sports, and Diego Santilli, Deputy Chief of the City of Buenos Aires. The President of the Nation spoke of "prudence and seriousness" to deal with the return of training. And everything has to do with the photo, of course. Just as the strict quarantine for runners was due to a gestural rather than a health issue, the same is true of soccer. "It doesn't look good that the players are running after a ball while people from Covid-19 die , " government sources told this newspaper.
The image is a lot, then. So we will have to see the evolution of the curve this week and then confirm a date. However, the leaders whose clubs participate in the Libertadores are already anxious . And they don't hide their discomfort. "We are worried. There are 50 days to play for the Cup and we do not know when we will return to training, "explained José Lemme, president of Defense. Meanwhile, with the exception of Bolivia and Venezuela, the region's leagues already have a restart date. This Tuesday, without going any further, he was going to play in Paraguay.
Tapia took note of the request of the Argentine clubs, and after having lost by a landslide the vote (7 to 1) in the Conmebol so that the Libertadores began in October and only get two days of delay for the programming of the representative parties Argentines, was urgent to González García.
The date of August 3 is still on file to start the tests and, 72 hours later, with the training. Although only Boca, River, Racing, Defense and Justice and Tigre would start. The rest would do the following week.
What at first was a rumor began to take shape on Monday at noon, when the AFA published on social networks that "a date will be scheduled for those teams that must face international commitments immediately . " Several leaders are angry about this situation."We all start together or we don't start," they say softly . Will the blood reach the river?
Meanwhile, there was a virtual meeting between the club presidents and Pedro Cahn. The infectologist who advises the government suggested a contingency plan in the event that a player is positive for Covid-19 and works with the "health bubble" system in groups of six. This Wednesday it will be the turn of the physical trainers.
FK
