South Australian authorities agree to bring back full capacity crowds ahead of Adelaide Oval Showdown
SA authorities have approved a full house at Adelaide Oval ahead of May’s AFL Showdown – but masks will have to be worn. Meanwhile, nine new cases in quarantine have been detected.
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South Australian authorities have approved a full house at Adelaide Oval ahead of next month’s AFL Showdown.
Pressure had been mounting on SA Health to approve 100pc crowd capacity – from a current 40,000 fans to up to 50,000 people – ahead of the blockbuster, amid business calls to help the CBD economy.
The Crows and Port Adelaide Showdown game – a Power home match – is just over a fortnight away on Saturday, May 8.
SA chief public health officer Professor Nicola Spurrier said SA Health had been working closely with oval management over a long period of time to ensure the safety of fans.
“I’m very confident about the safety of the set-up that they have there,” she said.
“The showdown is a special event ... and to be able to have the majority of fans able to come back and see that event is very special.”
She said precautions at the oval would remain in place, including a requirement that patrons wear masks when arriving, leaving and moving around the ground.
Meanwhile, Prof Spurrier revealed there were nine new cases of COVID-19 in South Australia – all cases are recent overseas arrivals and were detected in medi-hotels.
She said three cases would be classified as historical but are still added to the tally because they have never been diagnosed before.
The total number of active cases is now 30 – the state’s highest number since just before the Parafield cluster.
Adelaide Oval chief executive officer Andrew Daniels said he was absolutely delighted with the decision that the Showdown would be the first AFL game in close to 18 months to be open to 50,000 spectators.
“To know that one of the great sporting rivalries in this country will have the potential of a full seated crowd ... it’s been a lot of hard work with SA Health, with SA Police and with the staff here at Adelaide Oval,” he said.
“We’ve had to give the relevant authorities the confidence that here at the Adelaide Oval we know what to do, we know the requirements that need to be fulfilled, we understand the rules and we can implement them and in fact go above and beyond to ensure that South Australians are safe when they come here to watch a great game.”
Port Adelaide CEO Matthew Richardson described the decision as a terrific result for footy fans.
“It’s the biggest game in South Australian footy and it’s a privilege that it’s our home game and we’re really looking forward to it,” he said.
He said it was particularly exciting given last year‘s Showdown was played in front of only 2000 people.
“We’ve had 30,000 at the last few games and now, to have a full stadium and it’s one of the best in the world, our players love playing here and I’m sure they’ll be really excited about that night.”
Adelaide CEO Tim Silvers said the club was looking forward to welcoming back as many fans as possible for its future home games.
The Crows play Greater Western Sydney at the Oval on May 1, but the increased capacity will not have kicked in by then.
Instead their supporters will have to wait until Round 10‘s clash with Melbourne in May 22 for a potential for a 100 per cent capacity.
“It’s a wonderful result,” he said.
It also means that the 4500 Adelaide members who were displaced from their seats in the reduced capacity, would slowly be returned to their pre-COVID seats.
“The good news for them is that those 4500 we’re reversing back, so they’ll all get put back into their seats, which is a wonderful result for them and it’s something that we’ll process for the Melbourne game,” Mr Silvers said.
“All our efforts and energies are now in moving those people back into their original seats.”
Mr Richardson said any Port members who were relocated, would also find themselves back in their original seats by the first bounce of the Showdown.
“The month leading into the season with the changes was really challenging for people, so to so quickly be able to put people back in their original seats is a terrific result.”
Adelaide Oval is one of the country’s last major sporting grounds to permit full capacity, after caps were lifted at the Sydney Cricket Ground in December, the Gabba in January, Manuka Oval in February and Optus Stadium earlier this month.
Prof Spurrier warned on Wednesday that the number of travellers testing positive for COVID-19 in South Australia was of “increasing concern”.
“Obviously, as our chief public health officer, this puts me on edge and also members of my staff,” she said.
“We need to make sure that all of our processes in our quarantine stream and our medi-hotel are as tight as possible.”
Two patients are being treated in hospital and both are stable.
In light of the high numbers, officials are monitoring the capacity of Tom’s Court Hotel, which accommodates travellers who test positive.
Prof Spurrier said she also is looking into reports that people who may have been exposed to COVID-19 while in quarantine in NSW have since travelled to SA.
“My team is aware of that situation and we have really good sharing between states, so we’ll be following that up,” she said.
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