BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - AFTER more than a one-year hiatus, the St. Kitts-Nevis Football Senior League is set to resume after the Government had granted approval to three events with expected large crowds.
The St. Kitts-Nevis Football Association (SKNFA), the St. Kitts Cricket Association (SKCA), and the Music Festival Committee were all granted permission to resume activities after all their events were put on hold due to the COVID pandemic.
That disclosure came from the Head of the National COVID-19 Task Force, Abdias Samuel, who explained that in the case of the SKNFA, its President, Atiba Harris, provided statistics on the vaccination rate for players, staff and technical officials for teams within the league.
“...Forty to fifty percent of the active football players are fully vaccinated. Over 60 percent of the coaches and support staff are fully vaccinated, and over 80 percent of other associated staff are fully vaccinated,” noted Samuel.
Based on those numbers, the approval was granted for the resumption of activities under the Association’s umbrella. The rate of vaccination among players was a major concern for the Task Force owing to hesitancy, which prompting officials to not approve any of the league matches.
The approval was granted by Cabinet, effective from March 1, according to Samuel, who also noted that a similar go ahead was given to the SKCA for the resumption of its league, which has also been on a break because of the virus.
“The Cabinet, as well, has agreed and approved the resumption of cricket, effective March 1, 2022. This was based on a presentation made by Mr. Dennis Phillip on behalf of the Cricket Association,” disclosed Samuel.
Meanwhile, the St. Kitts Music Festival Committee was granted approval for the staging of the 2022 event in June, with a capacity between 4,000-6,000 patrons.
That decision came after the Chairman of the Festival made a presentation to the COVID-19 Task Force, which approved the staging of the event that has been paused for two years.
According to Samuel, the organisers are seeking to host the event from June 23-25 between 7:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m.
All of this comes as the Government has gotten the fourth wave of the virus under control with single digit cases being reported daily.
