MANILA – The Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) has cleared the national athletes to train again in any of its facilities beginning next year.
In a statement on Tuesday, the PSC said it will be reopening its facilities for the national athletes for training "not earlier than January 10, 2022" after the board approved the resolution.
"This resumption is dependent on the provision of many considerations for safety before final implementation," the PSC said.
The PSC is currently operating the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in Manila, the PhilSports Complex in Pasig, and the Baguio Training Camp.
"On-going coordination with the MPA-IATF (Multi-Purpose Arena-Inter-Agency Task Force) in PhilSports, Pasig, and the Baguio City local government unit is being done to ensure that all safety measures are taken for the protection of our national team members," it added.
As the PSC prepares for its facility reopening, renovations in the athletes' dormitories are ongoing after its engineering team discovered damages due to stormy weather.
Amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic, the PSC has also set up some health and safety protocols for the resumption of training in its facilities.
"The board has also provisionally approved the health-safety guidelines developed by the PSI-MSAS (Philippine Sports Institute Medical Scientific and Athletic Services) to be implemented in all training areas, with the addition of and improvement on certain provisions,” the PSC further said.
It added that the guidelines are based on the PSC-Games and Amusement Board-Department of Health Joint Administrative Order No. 2020-0001.
A technical working group has been formed for the said protocols, which include the prerequisite that all the national athletes should be fully vaccinated upon returning to training inside the PSC facilities.
It has also called on the national sports associations to submit their own Covid-19 protocols to further bolster the safety of the athletes amid the pandemic.
The development is good news for the national athletes ahead of a busy calendar next year which includes the Southeast Asian Games in Hanoi and the Asian Games in Hangzhou. (PNA)
