Sebastian Onciu
The pandemic which has changed all of our lives for the worst has had a huge impact on sports as well, by leading to the indefinite postponement of all the major competitions, and also by drastically reducing the possibilities people have of exercising outdoors. Thus, in my country, people can still run or do other forms of individual physical activities close to their homes, but team sports and games are strictly forbidden, which is certainly a massive blow for many people who want to combine the benefits of physical effort with the entertainment of playing an exciting game like soccer.
However, there are still people who enjoy kicking a ball outside, even if they can’t play the beautiful game in an organized manner anymore and they have to do it by themselves. Yesterday I saw a gentleman on the sports ground of a school nearby, juggling with a football and shooting at an empty goal. I suppose he used to go out regularly to play soccer with his friends on Sundays, but because of the drastic measures taken by the authorities in order to try to slow down the spreading of the deadly virus, he will have to live without playing real soccer for God knows how long.
Watching this lonely soccer player in action made me feel a little sad because probably like most of us I sometimes find it hard to cope with all this social distancing, but it also brought me a glimmer of hope in such a grim reality. The lonely footballer wasn’t willing to abandon his hobby and stick to playing soccer online because he hasn’t lost his confidence that the day when people will be once again allowed to gather, interact and play their favorite games or do whatever makes them feel good will come, so his loneliness is only temporary, and when the moment comes, whether it’s in a few weeks or months, he will be ready to play again for his team. The virus may have stopped the game for a while, but soccer will be back and his fans will probably love it even more after such a long absence!
He is still able to play if he can make his way to Belarus.
He should hurry up because if the infection rate starts taking proportions, and I’m convinced it will, they will stop the league in Belarus as well. Even a dictator like Lukashenko has to realize at some point that his decision of letting people go on with their activities almost normally might lead his country to disaster.
He said that he would rather die standing instead of kneeling to the virus. I think the soccer will continue because 10 new countries are picking up Belarus Premier League now since they are the only sports in Europe.