GET US BACK TO OUR SPORTING GROUNDS

SINCE the implementation of the national lockdown in March 2020, our stadiums have been left vacant, bereft of gees, and mostly silent – save for the shrill blast of the officials' whistle, the groans of staff and the muted mutterings of players.

It has made for a sad spectacle, as stadiums that can accommodate thousands of frenzied fans have been televised to the country as empty husks, far removed from their former glory as epicentres of heaving emotion.

There can be no denying that the impact of Covid-19 on sport has done an incalculable amount of damage to the income, revenue and coffers of the nation's clubs, teams and franchises.

Thankfully, there is light at the end of the tunnel – a glimmer of hope that in the foreseeable future bums will be back on the seats of our most hallowed grounds. The government, through its newly launched “It is in your hands” campaign, has placed its chips on sport – and cultural and arts festivals and gatherings – to drive its vaccination programme, but why it took so long to reach this strategy remains an enigma.

The campaign, once in full effect, will give priority to the vaccinated, allowing those inoculated individuals to enter stadiums, arenas, concerts, theatres, galleries and festivals as a reward for getting the jab.

On a superficial level it seems a sound tactic, but then it was presented with much razzmatazz and little substance. No date for a return to venues was indicated, no time frame presented, and no plan revealed as to how the separation between the vaccinated and unvaccinated will be implemented.

That, according to the government, will be explained in the coming weeks.

Sport was one of the big losers during the national lockdown, and the government largely failed to make it a priority. Now it is the centre-piece of the drive to educate the masses about the vaccination programme. It has been 18-plus months since fans were allowed to enter our stadiums, and if the campaign is to pay any dividends, the government must not deliberate any longer.

Its plan must be executed posthaste. The vaccinated are already 12 million-strong, and sport has waited long enough to hear the roar of a crowd, the elation of supporters, and the buzzing of the vuvuzela. It is time to get us back to our sporting grounds.