SASSARI. Teams with three positives, some halved. And so the regional committee of the FIGC, in line with national protocols, decides to stop the amateur championships, from Excellence downwards, and the youth championships until January 23rd. The Omicron variant brings Sardinian football to its knees.
«With three cases the game is over. For yesterday’s shift, four requests for postponement had already arrived in Excellence, as many in Promotion and in the First and Second category. And so we decided to stop everything for at least two weeks. The rounds of 9 and 16 January will not be played. In the meantime we will see how the health situation will evolve and, if the emergency should ease, the championships will restart on the 23rd. Right now our goal is to protect the health of the players, that’s the only thing that matters ». The decision to stop regional football was not taken with a light heart, as explained by the president of the Sardinian FIGC Gianni Cadoni.
«We have come from a horrible year, the pandemic has hit hard on amateur football. For this I thank all the managers who have kept the companies alive despite the one-year stop. Now I ask everyone to respect the protocol with more severity in view of the restart on 23 January: distancing, masks and above all vaccines “. You need to get immunized quickly if you want to move forward.
«It is the right decision – says Cadoni -. If we want to stop the pandemic this is the only way, we have to start living again. Although, it must be said, in the amateur leagues most of the players are vaccinated. Of course, in every team there is always the one who says no, but they are rare flies. The problem concerns the youth teams: for the 12-15 age group the booster has just been approved and therefore it is right to give everyone time to get vaccinated. It is one of the reasons that convinced us to stop the championships. On 23 January we will return to the field in total safety. The goal is to finish the championships ».
In these two weeks Cadoni will meet by videoconference with the managers of all the companies to take stock of the situation. «Our goal, I repeat, is to finish the championship. We are already at a good point, in Excellence with the turn of 23 January we will already be on the second day of return, in the other championships the first round has already ended. Now it only takes a little effort, once all the players have been vaccinated we will start and never stop ».
President Cadoni is confident. «The virus does not run like last year when there were up to 30 infections in a team, now the situation is different. One last effort and amateur football will still give a show ».