HOPING TO PLAY
TO A FINISH
Games go on in the small Central American nation but
fears are spreading with no sign of the country’s president
GLOBAL SHUTDOWN
Nicaragua
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W
ithin the American
continent, Nicaragua
was the only country
to keep its league active
in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The small Central American nation
continued playing behind closed doors
as the government argued that there
were not enough infection cases to
do stop the league. But in reality
the story is more complicated.
“So far, only four cases have
been reported,” says Edder
Mondragon, a Mexican defender
with top-flight side Municipal Jalapa.
“The Health Center [department]
said it would only suspend the
league when 50 cases have beenreported, but so far it has not happened.”
In reality it’s practically impossible to
know for sure how many cases there are
as Nicaragua is the only country in the
Americas that doesn’t have preventive
measures in place, nor has it established
any type of alert or restrictions to try to
stop the pandemic.
“The FA and this government are notgoing to stop the league,” explains
Mondragon. “A month ago we did go
into quarantine but we kept playing.
“In the cities the necessary measures
were taken. They closed shops, bars and
restaurants, but then reopened them
because they said there was no problem.
Also, people don’t have money and they
have to go to work to live.”
The opposition in the country
has accused the government, led
by Daniel Ortega since 2007, of
falsifying data, banning the use of
gloves and masks in hospitals, and
promoting mass events with large
crowds. A group of opposition
politicians and health experts
have even presented a parallelWait...Diriangen before kick-off