Sugathadasa Stadium closed as Institute of Sports Medicine asked to follow health guidelines

by Reemus Fernando

The Institute of Sports Medicine informed all Sports Associations, coaches and those using public sports facilities to strictly adhere to guidelines provided by health authorities when using stadiums and gyms due to the current health situation in the country.

The Institute of Sports Medicine directive comes in the midst of Covid 19 concerns which forced authorities to close the Sugathadasa Stadium yesterday.

Health authorities provided strict guidelines to resume sports after the Covid 19 pandemic and the Institute of Sports Medicine and the Ministry of Sports requested concerned parties to stick to those guidelines till October 31.

The statement from the Institute of Sports Medicine advices restricting the participants using sports stadiums and gyms to 50%.

These directives were issued a day after most sports associations and institutions cancelled or postponed their scheduled competitions due to the emergence of a new cluster of Covid 19 positive cases in Minuwangoda.

Several road events of the National Sports Festival scheduled for the weekend and Sri Lanka Athletics National Trial which was to be conducted later this month were among many sports events postponed this week.

Meanwhile many training venues around the country were reported closed yesterday.

The Sugathadasa Stadium which was open for training in the morning was closed due to Covid 19 concerns in the afternoon. A source said that the facility was closed awaiting the result of a PCR test conducted on a relative of a security officer who had been in contact with a Covid 19 positive individual.

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