Bubble hopes popped

Senator Steve Pallett says the inter-island ‘sports bubble’ is unlikely to come to fruition due to disparities in the way Jersey and Guernsey are dealing with Covid-19.

Pallett, the politician responsible for sport in Jersey, says he had considered proposing a deal to his Sarnian counterparts which would have allowed athletes to travel within the Channel Islands to challenge each other, when a return to competitive activity is deemed safe.

However, travel measures being imposed across the water appear to have knocked the idea into the long grass for the foreseeable future.

Guernsey’s politicians and health experts are set to relax a number of internal restrictions this weekend, including the reopening of gym and sports facilities, but travel between the Bailiwick’s islands – Guernsey, Alderney, Sark and Herm – has been pencilled in for the next stage of their exit strategy and there is no reference to Jersey. Non-essential travel is permitted, but only alongside a 14-day quarantine period.

‘It would have been a great opportunity to start getting some competitive sport moving,’ said Pallett.

‘But I think the comments made from Guernsey around what they consider to be appropriate travel bubbles – and Jersey not being a part of that – will make it very difficult. We have to do things in tandem with Guernsey and have similar types of travel arrangements in place but we seem to be going down different routes at the current time.

‘Sportsmen and women from both islands will be looking for opportunities to compete and if they can’t travel further afield it would be good to compete against each other. And we’ve also got to consider that we’ve got an Island Games coming up next year and many sports people will be looking for competition. It’s alright training but at some point they’ve got to get that competitive atmosphere.’

Guernsey have not recorded a new case of Covid-19 since 1 May and in sports such as rowing, cycling and triathlon have clashed in a virtual, on-line arena.