Football |20 July 2020

SFF secretary general George Bibi (right) and director of competition Clive Delorié

SFF clears its position vis-à-vis closed door matches

“Our local situation, context and specificity are different to that of Europe, South America, or the African continent and since our stadiums are never full for any football match, it would be practically easy to organise social and physical distancing.”

The above statement was part of a letter by the secretary general of the Seychelles Football Federation (SFF) Georges Bibi to the department of health, justifying the federation’s request to resume football activities with spectators in the stadium.

It was part of a long negotiation process – from June 4-25 – between the SFF, the department of health and the National Sports Council (NSC) since the football governing body was advocating for the presence of spectators at the stadiums.

In contrast to the above statements, principal secretary for youth and sports Fabian Palmyre on Thursday during a joint press conference to explain the new guidelines, strategies and measures for the resumption of local sports activities, mentioned that the SFF has made no effort whatsoever to try and seek the approval of the authority in allowing access to spectators at matches.

In a press conference on Saturday at the Maison Football, Roche Caïman, Mr Bibi completely denounced PS Palmyre’s declaration which he said does not portray a good image of the SFF, especially among its members who are also lobbying for stadium access.

As part of SFF’s raison-d'être behind its request was that as a federation, it is concerned and worried for its members’ future, since if the restriction persists whereby spectators are not allowed at football matches, it may destroy the very existence of clubs.

He further added that since the spectators may be the only source of income in this trying time, considering that sponsorship is not and will not be forthcoming due to the economic downturn and that should restriction continues, it will kill sports, especially football in the country.

The SFF is also perplexed that spectators are not allowed in sports venues, yet casinos, restaurants and bars are open, most of the time with almost no physical distancing.

Also present on Saturday was Clive Delorié, the SFF’s director of competition, who explained that the federation was ready to adjust its normal procedures to adapt to guidelines and regulations set by the authority in relation to spectators.

He noted that it is now not wise to go ahead with a decision to have spectators in the stadiums even if there are some very interesting matches coming up since it will not be fair on teams who have already been playing under the new measures, thus losing out on crucial revenues.

Roland Duval