It was a move that was hailed by all as a painful necessity regardless of the adverse effects the shutdown had on the economy and the Nigeria Professional Football League, National Youth Games, National Sports Festival and other sporting events that were postponed till further notice.

From the moment the ban was announced, all stadia and sporting centres across the country were placed under lock and key.

Even street football by restless youths was affected as only a few still played the game in hidden corners.

As the coronavirus cases began to drop, the federal government through the Presidential Task Force (PTF) in August approved the return of non-combat sports such as lawn tennis, table tennis, squash, badminton, cycling, athletics, golf, polo, para-athletics, cricket, bowling, swimming, diving, gymnastics, sprinting and running while approving the use of recreational parks for supervised physical exercises only.

Interestingly, when European football leagues successfully ended and were about to resume for the ongoing season, pressure began to mount on the federal government to re-open football and other contact sports.

As Nigerians clamoured for the return of football, the PTF had other ideas as the task force declared emphatically that it was too dangerous and unsafe for football to re-start with fans in the stands.

The PTF according to its chairman, Boss Mustapha, insisted that apart from the risk involved, football without fans would be boring so on-field activities would remain suspended.

As at the time he made the statement, Bundesliga and La Liga had resumed while the English Premiership as at then was kicking off the following weekend without fans.

Consequently, soccer pundits, enthusiasts, as well as sports lovers in general, found the ‘excuse’ given by the PTF that allowing combat sports to resume could lead to a spike in the coronavirus cases as lame and untenable.

Such views were not unfounded because in the last two months, certain events which are not related to sports held and attracted huge crowds, with a majority not obeying the COVID-19 protocols.

It appeared as if the PTF was either ‘powerless’ or unwilling to ban political campaigns, as well as burials of Very Important Persons (VIPs).

For instance, in Edo and Ondo states, there were large crowds who welcomed politicians on campaign trains with the vast majority not observing the protocols.

In Edo State, campaigns ended and elections were held with little or no regard for COVID-19 protocols.

The same scenario equally plays out in Ondo state where the gubernatorial election is to hold on October 10 and the politicians are taking their campaigns to the nooks and crannies of the state with no regards to social distancing.

Away from political gatherings, it will be recalled that apart from the burial of some notable figures like Abba Kyari and Senator Buruji Kashamu, a large crowd recently attended the burial ceremony of the Emir of Zazzau, Alhaji Shehu Idris at his palace in Zaria, Kaduna State on September 20 with complete disregard for COVID-19 safety protocols.

The large crowd that trooped in to witness the burial is said to be enough to fill up a 5,000 sitting capacity stadium.

Sometime in August, government made moves to re-open contact sports, a development that made NPFL clubs to announce resumption dates, but that didn’t happen as the decision was reversed almost immediately.

As a result, even as contact sports are not allowed officially, on-field activities are ongoing informally just as crowded viewing centres have re-opened fully without any regard for social distancing.

Consequently, stakeholders are calling on the government to reconsider its decision on contact sports.