November 28, 2020 – The Split Sports Association has sent an open letter to the relevant institutions regarding the new lockdown measures in Croatia, which forbid sports activity for the younger population.
Index.hr reports that in an open letter to the relevant institutions, the Split Sports Association assessed that the latest measures to combat the coronavirus epidemic are not prudent because they prevent children’s sports activity, warning that the decision on these measures is discriminatory towards younger ages.
“We are interested in who participated in the adoption of these measures on behalf of Croatian sports, which leads to the very logical conclusion that it is not prudent to prevent children’s sports activities until the measure of closing regular classes in primary and secondary schools is adopted,” the open letter reads.
The letter raises the question – what guided the proponents of these measures when they made the discriminatory decision to allow seniors to engage in sports activities despite scientific evidence that the effects of COVID-19 are significantly less pronounced in the younger population.
The Split Sports Federation sent an open letter to the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, the National Civil Protection Headquarters, the National Sports Council, the Croatian Olympic Committee, and the Split-Dalmatia County Civil Protection Headquarters.
“How is it possible that the same children (primary and secondary schools) can be in daily contact for five to six hours indoors and cannot be outdoor or indoor training with their clubs, two to three times a week for one to two hours?” the letter adds. They recall that the Sports Act explicitly speaks of sport as an activity of special interest to the Republic of Croatia.
Furthermore, the letter raises the question – what is the greater risk of transmitting COVID-19 in sports activities in nature or indoors with a prescribed distance compared to the permitted activities in some other activities?
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