Football in Australia will continue despite fears over the spread of the coronavirus, but the remainder of the A-League season and next weekend’s W-League grand final will be played behind closed doors.
The NRL also committed to proceed with it season as planned in round two this week, but also in empty stadiums, while AFL players were to meet with their union on Monday evening to air their thoughts about starting the season on Thursday night.
The NRL will deal with the quickly-evolving situation by taking a day-by-day approach, CEO Todd Greenberg said on Monday, but for this week’s second round, games would be played behind closed doors.
The New Zealand-based Warriors will play Canberra on the Gold Coast on Saturday, but whether they return home after that remains unclear. Even if they did, Greenberg said the NRL season could still go ahead.
“Of course we want all 16 clubs playing in the competition but that’s a step ... we’ll only get to that after this weekend,” Greenberg said. “At the end of round two, they’re going to make some key decisions. None of those decisions are made yet.
“We understand that they have to make their own decisions. But we are trying to look at it in the context of the whole competition.”
FFA announced earlier that fans will not be able to attend the remaining six rounds of the men’s competition and the women’s title decider between Melbourne City and Sydney FC.
“This is an unprecedented time and extremely complex for the sport and society at large,” FFA CEO James Johnson said.
There is also the likelihood the rest of the A-League season will be compressed into three or four weeks, with shorter turnarounds in between matches. A decision on the finals series is yet to be made.
“We have got 30 matches left, six competition rounds to go, it is our intent to compress the rest of that season,” FFA’s head of leagues Greg O’Rourke said. “We have spoken to the clubs. And we’re now speaking to the venues to see whether or not it’s possible for us to complete those six rounds in three to four weeks.
“We will also have all our games behind closed doors. We think, at this point of time, that is a better solution ... rather than suspend it.”
The Australian government’s requirement that all travellers Australia arriving in Australia from Monday will have to self-isolate for a period of 14 days means matches involving Melbourne Victory and Wellington Phoenix will not proceed in rounds 24 and 25.
The Phoenix, who are likely to leave New Zealand on Tuesday, will play the remainder of their games in Australia once out of isolation.
“It’s not helpful ... but both of those clubs are willing to participate,” FFA’s head of leagues, Greg O’Rourke said.
FFA also confirmed that grassroots football, including under-age competitions, can continue but with additional measures implemented, including recommended hygiene measures and appropriate social distancing at football matches.
“The scale of football means that we have a key role to play in maintaining the health and wellbeing of Australians, as well as their families and the wider community,” Johnson said.
“We are doing so by allowing people to play, in line with the current government position but with additional guidance to further improve social distancing at football fields around the country.”
