Cambodian NGO battles Covid-19 with ‘social distancing football’
- Video of first game goes viral with requests from grass roots football around the world coming into Phnom Penh-based ISF
- New sport developed as Covid-19 situation in country has seen street football played without physical distancing
“You cannot play football and social distance,” former England striker Gary Lineker told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour in an interview ahead of the German Bundesliga returning to action in May.
The poacher-turned-pundit’s point was that there are times in the traditional game, corners and free kicks, where players have to be in proximity.
Now Indochina Starfish Foundation (ISF) Cambodia, a Phnom Penh-based NGO focused on bettering children’s lives through sport and education, has changed all of that by creating social distancing football.
With no lockdown in Cambodia but schools closed and the financial realities meaning many parents are working, the country’s children have been left to their own devices often keeping themselves entertained by playing street football.
ISF’s coaching team saw that the children were going to play anyway so developed a safer way employing social distancing.
“Cambodian kids are in a difficult position,” Vicheka Chourp, ISF’s Country Manager, said. “Schools have closed down for their safety but because most parents have to work that means some are looking after themselves or are out on the streets playing football. Our coaches saw football being played without precautions everywhere and wanted to see if we could help.”
ISF football programme manager Samedy Yin came up with the idea before developing the rules with the team of coaches. The first efforts at the game took place between the coaches in early May before it was played with children.
“We're excited, we think we invented a new sport: Social Distance Football!” they wrote on Twitter. The Asian Football Confederation have since described it as “innovative”.
Players have to be temperature checked, wash their hands before and after and wear masks throughout the game. Beyond that players are lined out like in table football with teams alternating in lines and they must stay at least two metres apart.
Across the world in Argentina, footballers have independently come up with a human version of table football that they call “metegol humano”, its Spanish translation. With players confined to rectangles marked out on the pitch.
In Cambodia the players are given a spot marked with an X, which they have to stay within two metres of, while all the play has to be below knee height – even for goalkeepers. Players are also limited to five seconds on the ball.
Those who break the rules are sent into “quarantine” for one minute, while there is also an emphasis on education outside of games about the importance of physical distancing.
A video of that first game has been watched 160,000 times online and requests have come in from around the world on adapting the game to their needs. ISF has already started sharing the game with other Cambodian NGOs, while Chourp was also hopeful youngsters might try it themselves.
“We are looking forward to rolling it out with our partners,” Chourp said. “Right now, there might not be many cases of Covid-19 in Cambodia, but as the Government has said many times, we must try and keep ourselves safe in case there is a second wave. We hope some kids saw the video and decided to be a bit safer.”
The video has been widely shared and plans are afoot in several countries to start playing.
