MINISTER of Sport and Community Development Shamfa Cudjoe said on Monday that fete matches will not be allowed during the first phase of the Ministry's safe zone return to play proposal.
Cudjoe made this point during an interview on TTT's Now Morning Show.
"This phase of the roll-out is for national governing bodies," said Cudjoe. "We're not at the point where (we can allow) fellas from the community to just go out on the field and play. That will be the next phase after we see the outcome of this first phase.
"This speaks to national governing bodies and sport governing bodies," she continued. "They have the policy to apply and show that their players, officials, coaches and so on are vaccinated so we can do that safely."
The return to play proposal, developed by the Ministry in consultation with stakeholders, was announced via a media release on Sunday.
"We are looking at reopening sports from as early as (Monday)," said the Minister. "We have been working on this plan from as early as last year October-November. The Ministry reached out to the national governing bodies and some of the sport governing bodies for a return-to-play plan, to find out about their vaccination status and their plans for playing sports once again."
She added, "We know the Ministry of Health had granted exemptions for athletes to go out there and play, also for national governing bodies that were preparing for national competitions and had tournaments taking place. Now, that we're opening up for vaccinated athletes, coaches, administrators (and) officials to play sport."
The Minister revealed, "At first, we were looking at granting the exemptions for the athletes and officials only, but we've decided to include spectators, as more of the population gets vaccinated. For indoor facilities, we'll have up to 25 per cent capacity and, for outdoor events, 50 per cent."
Cudjoe said that all spectators attending those sporting events must be fully vaccinated.
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