Australia is catching up with other parts of the world, where sporting events have been put behind closed doors, postponed or cancelled. On Friday, the season-opening Formula One grand prix in Melbourne was cancelled due to fears over the spread of the coronavirus but with the NRL season having started on Thursday night and the AFL season beginning next week – and a host of other codes either currently running or about to begin – how do the major Australian sports stand to be impacted in the coming weeks and months?
Rugby league
The 2020 NRL season kicked off on Thursday night, when the Eels played the Bulldogs at Bankwest Stadium, and a full opening round schedule follows over the weekend. The NRL said Friday night’s games in Canberra and North Queensland could go ahead but a decision on the rest of the weekend’s game will be taken on Saturday morning. Earlier on Friday, the government issued advice to shut down any gatherings over 500 people as of Monday. The NRL has sent an advisory document to all clubs outlining measures to prevent the spread of the virus. The league has previously stated it may lock down games if advised to do so. The Women’s Premiership does not start for six months, but major state competitions across Queensland and New South Wales begin this weekend. The State of Origin series will be played in Adelaide, Sydney and Brisbane in June and July.
Australian rules football
The AFL released a statement on Friday evening saying both the AFLW, which is midway through the season, and the AFL, which begins next Thursday at the MCG when Richmond play Carlton, would go ahead but no fans will be permitted to attend matches “for the foreseeable future”. The decision comes in the wake of the latest government advice on large gatherings. Earlier this week, the league’s chief executive, Gillon McLachlan, said it remains the intention to play every men’s game this season, but the AFL is prepared to heed advice from health experts and exclude the public from matches should the outbreak worsen. The round 11 match between St Kilda and Port Adelaide in China has already been moved to Marvel Stadium.
Football
Unlike many leagues across the world, both the A-League and the W-League have continued despite the threat of the coronavirus. The A-League is mid-season while the W-League’s semi-finals are scheduled for this weekend and the grand final the week after. Football Federation Australia indicated on Friday all games will proceed without any restrictions, but small crowds are expected. FFA has previously stated it has been proactively monitoring the situation for months and will take advice from relevant government departments before moving to cancel any matches. The A-League regular season runs until the end of April, with the grand final set for the weekend of 16 May.
The Matildas’ Olympic qualifying campaign has been affected by the virus – their game against China was moved from Wuhan to Sydney and was then delayed with the Chinese team put into isolation in their hotel – but they qualified for the Games in Tokyo on Wednesday night in an empty stadium in Vietnam. Their next fixture, against the US in Utah on 11 April, was cancelled on Friday, and FFA is to hold discussions with Canada Soccer over the planned friendly in Vancouver on 14 April. On Thursday, the US closed its borders to all travellers from Europe, where a number of the Matildas play their club football. The Socceroos’ World Cup qualifiers have also been affected – Fifa and the AFC have postponed Asian qualifiers in March and June – although they may instead look to set up fixtures with other nations. A decision on that is yet to be made.
Netball
It is currently the netball off-season, but with Super Netball scheduled to start at the beginning of May, Netball Australia moved this week to establish a Covid-19 working group which is monitoring the situation closely. The panel’s brief is to ensure all stakeholders have the most relevant and timely information on hand. On Friday Super Netball’s official pre-season tournament, the Team Girls Cup, was cancelled.
Cricket
The Women’s World Twenty20 final went ahead at the MCG in front of a record crowd of more than 80,000 during the early stages of the outbreak in Australia last weekend, at the end of a tournament that had passed unaffected by the virus. Australia’s women were due to play ODI and T20 series in South Africa, starting on 22 March, but that was suspended until further notice on Friday. Cricket Australia said it was monitoring the situation before making a decision on international matches beyond that. The three-match ODI series between Australia’s men and New Zealand, starting on Friday, will proceed as planned, but behind closed doors. Meanwhile, the four remaining matches of the Sheffield Shield will proceed as scheduled.
Tennis
The ATP Tour, on which the likes of men’s stars Nick Kyrgios and Alex De Minaur play, has been shut down for a minimum of six weeks, after the prestigious Indian Wells tournament was cancelled earlier this week. The Fed Cup finals in Hungary next month, which would have featured Ash Barty and Australia, have been postponed. The ITF said it remains committed to delivering the tournament and it is working to find a suitable alternative date. But the WTA Tour could follow the ATP’s decision to suspend all play until late April. “It’s a bit of a moving target for the guys at the moment,” men’s Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt said.
Rugby union
Spectators will be able to attend Super Rugby and Super W games this weekend but the doors will then be closed indefinitely, Rugby Australia said on Friday. A spectator who attended the weekend’s game between the Rebels and Lions in Melbourne tested positive for the virus.
Cycling
Australian World Tour team Mitchelton-Scott has pulled out of all men’s and women’s events until at least 22 March as a precautionary measure to minimise the risk of Covid-19. Cycling Australia released a statement this week advising that all programmes and events should proceed as scheduled, although it also issued several recommendations for people attending those events.
Swimming
Swimming Australia is another peak body that is “closely monitoring the situation” and its possible impact. On Thursday it issued guidelines to those attending upcoming meets “to keep the swimming community as healthy as possible during this period of time”. This weekend’s NSW State Open Championship and April’s national championships remain in the diary. Olympic and Paralympic trials are not scheduled to be contested until June.
A dedicated Covid-19 website has been created by the Australian Institute of Sport with up-to-date information on the virus and its relevance to sport.
