New Delhi: The Commonwealth's ministers have emphasised that collaboration is vital to the recovery of their respective sports sectors which have suffered a crushing blow from measures taken to stem the spread of COVID-19.
They have also agreed on solutions to minimise the impact of COVID-19 on their sports sectors, which could experience recession several times worse than the average sector of any economy.
This was the recurring theme as Sports Ministers from Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Europe and the Pacific met at a landmark forum on the impact of the pandemic on their respective sports sectors, the Commonwealth Secretariat said on Monday.
India's Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports Kiren Rijiju was among the attendees.
The participating countries spoke about the deep health and economic scars left by the closure of community sports, gyms and exercise facilities, the decimation of the local and international sporting calendars, and the loss of revenue from broadcast and sponsorship deals.
According to a recent Commonwealth study, while the overall economy of the 54 member countries would contract on an average by 3.2 per cent in 2020, the contribution of the sports sectors to the GDP could drop by well over 20 per cent in several nations.
Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland said: "Our countries are shouldering many very heavy burdens as a result of the pandemic.
"Among these, necessary restrictions affecting the sports sector make much of its future uncertain and prevent it from making its much-needed contributions to physical well-being, mental health and economic activity.
"So, it was really encouraging to see how Sports Ministers in our member-countries are responding to the effects of COVID-19 with powerful and imaginative initiatives. Return-to-play toolkits, grants for community clubs and virtual programmes to help people of all ages to be physically active were among the examples shared at the forum."
Resources such as the new Commonwealth Moves programme was shared with ministers to support efforts to get more people active while complying with the rules imposed to tackle the pandemic.
The online tool is tailored to tackle the ongoing 'pandemic' of immobility, exacerbated by COVID-19 disruptions. It includes activities for all demographics, including young people, the elderly, and the persons with disabilities.
Forum participants expressed strong support for the Secretariat's initiatives. This includes its programme on measuring sport's contribution to the sustainable development goals and its recent online course on designing effective policies and programmes.
Kenya's Cabinet Secretary for Sports, Culture and Heritage, Amina Mohamed, chaired the forum. She said: "This forum was timely and critical for many governments still working very hard to fight the devastating pandemic that ambushed the globe early this year.
"The forum confirmed an unmistakable desire among the Commonwealth Sport Ministers to collaborate, share solutions and pool their collective knowledge aided by the Commonwealth Secretariat, including a newly-developed pool of resources, carefully crafted to support countries resuscitate sport sectors choked by COVID-19, and ensure that we re-build healthier, more resilient, inclusive and sustainable economies and populations."
The ministers at the forum presented how they are responding to the current challenges and planning the safe and staged return to sports.
These range from guidelines for cross-border competitions and provisions of economic support for grass-roots clubs to investment in the e-sport sector and helplines to address abuse in sport.
In a statement released after the forum, the ministers agreed that future policies, programmes and competitions should integrate delivery modifications and virus suppression measures, and that the sector should be a focus of recovery and rebuilding efforts.
