“My family in Ghana is worried about me”- Belarus-based James Kotei on playing through Coronavirus

Ghanaian midfielder, James Kotei, says that his family back in Ghana is very concerned at his having to play football matches in the European country despite the presence of the Coronavirus pandemic.

Belarus is the only country in Europe that has its elite league still running in the face of the pandemic.

The country’s president, Aleksandr Lukashenko, has downplayed the effects of the disease and and thus, has not placed any restrictions on gatherings and events as has been done in Ghana.

Kotei plays for Slavia-Mozyr and he told TV3 Sports in an interview that doing his professional work in the current climate really bothered his family back in Ghana.

“They are always scared, they keep on telling me to be careful. They say things like: ‘We need you alive’ and ‘put your mask on’. They are scared they don’t understand why we keep playing football.”

He went on to give details of how he was coping in the country in the face of the Coronavirus pandemic.

“I must be frank with you as a player you are like a warrior, the moment you step on the field there so many things you forget about it and you don’t think the virus. It is after the game that you realize there is this thing going on and I have to be careful.

“Initially, we would find out from them that what was going on and why we were still playing the league whiles in other countries, football had been put on hold.

They tell us the margin is not huge here but recently I heard the President is putting some measures in place because even the doctors taking care of the affected ones are also contracting the virus.”

“They are looking to the federation to maybe say the league has been put on hold.”

Per data from the Johns Hopkins University, Belarus has recorded 2,919 with 29 deaths.