Basketball Ireland became the first Irish sporting body to effectively shut down operations in light of the spread of the CoronaVirus last night.
Shortly after 9 pm, it issued a statement saying that
“Basketball Ireland continues to closely monitor the coronavirus outbreak and the advice from the National Public Health Emergency Team, the HSE, and the WHO.”
“The health and safety of the Basketball Ireland community is our priority and we are determined to be proactive regarding precautions to limit the spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19).”
“Basketball Ireland is, therefore, instructing all affiliates to suspend all basketball competitions and events with immediate effect.”
“We understand that this decision will result in inconvenience and disappointment to many players, coaches, officials, volunteers and supporters, particularly at this time when various competitions are reaching their concluding stages. However, we are sure that all will understand that the decision is taken in the best interests, not just of the basketball community, but also family, friends and the wider community.”
“The situation is rapidly changing and we will continue to monitor developments on a day-to-day basis. Further updates will be issued on a regular basis over the coming weeks.”
It was becoming inevitable that all community activities were coming under the closest of scrutiny and preparations are being made in schools to potentially suspend the return to classrooms after the forthcoming long weekend.
If that was the case then many of the halls that are used for Basketball would be out of use, as would the training facilities used by many other sporting clubs before the return to outdoor training under natural lights at the start of April.
There will doubtless be more announcements from other sporting bodies as the next few days progress and we will keep you up to date right here on Sport for Business.
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