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Sikhumbuzo Moyo, Senior Sports Reporter
“TOP officials at the NBA and Mahor League Baseball hope the worst of the coronavirus pandemic is behind them as teams start to welcome fans back into stadia.

“But to watch the game live, a growing number of venues are asking visitors to prove they’ve gotten their shots by displaying what’s called a ‘vaccine passport’.

“Oracle Park, home of the San Francisco Giants, and Citi Field, home of the New York Mets, are among a longer list of sports spaces that now require digital vaccine verifications. The arenas are doing so because of health safety protocols from their respective states. Those teams and others have been using an app called Health Pass from technology company Clear for Covid-19 screening. In some cases, showing your status on Health Pass could be the difference between watching a game in person or at home,” reads a report by CBC News last week.

Basketball and baseball are two of the most popular sports in the United States of America, and stadia always fill to the rafters.

Authorities there have seized the opportunity to ensure as many people as possible get their Covid-19 vaccine for them to watch their favourite sport live at the stadia.

In Zimbabwe, there’s no doubt that football is the most popular sport, in limbo since March last year, although for most of the teams, action ended in 2019.

Next weekend, Premier Soccer League football finally returns, albeit without the 12th player, the fans, as all matches will be played behind closed doors.

This week, Chronicle carried a story revealing that Zimbabwe had introduced Covid-19 vaccination “passports.”

According to the article, citizens that are vaccinated will get the physical card that has a barcode as proof that they have been jabbed if they decide to travel outside the country.

The bar code can be scanned for details on when the vaccine was administered, type of vaccine and place of vaccination.

The card will be uploaded into an application linking it to an electronic record.

This could be an opportune time for the country to use football to promote vaccination by allowing those that have been inoculated entry into stadia to PSL matches.

This might just persuade some football fans that are still hesitant to be vaccinated to finally get the jab.

The Sports and Recreation Commission, Zifa and PSL should join hands and look at the possibility of allowing fans that have been fully vaccinated entry into our stadia to watch the game they love.

This could just help bump up the number of people getting vaccinated as most football fans are longing to return to the stadium after more than a year of no live weekend activities since large gatherings are restricted to reduce the risk of Covid-19 infections.