Several matches canceled due to covid cases: the virus makes life difficult for French professional sports clubs. This weekend several rugby boxing day matches had to be canceled. In handball, eight cases were detected in the French team, barely two weeks before the start of the Euro.
In Seine-Maritime, the dragons of Rouen must also deal with cases of covid among their opponents. The Magnus league match against Cergy-Pontoise, which was to take place this Tuesday is postponed because of cases among the Ile-de-France residents. The meeting against Bordeaux, this Sunday, is also canceled, for the same reason.
How to avoid clusters?
To prevent this from happening too regularly, how do our professional Norman sports clubs manage to limit the risks?
At Rouen Normandie Rugby, a specific health protocol was set up by the National Rugby League. “For all video sessions, it is compulsory mask because it is an enclosed space where the players are close together, explains Maxime Jacquey, sports coordinator of the club. Regarding the meal, unfortunately, we do not have enough room to keep the distance but at least we try to make the meal range a little more extensive “.
No zero risk
To limit the risks, he also explains that all the players have decided to get vaccinated. This is also the case at Rouen Métropole Basket. In this case, there is no compulsory tests to be carried out as it could have been the case last year. On the other hand, only players and team members are allowed to enter the locker rooms, for example. And despite this, there is no such thing as zero risk. “It’s completely impossible, explains Rémi Grégoire, covid referent of the Pro B club. Where then we would have to have the players with us all the time, that we accommodate them, that we feed them etc … and yet we would not be 100% sure either. “
For now, since the start of the season, the two clubs have not identified no covid cases, nor any game cancellations.