The AFL season is in limbo with Round 1 to be played without fans
The AFL season will proceed as scheduled next week but supporters won't be allowed to attend as the league braces for an "inevitable" mid-season postponement.
The AFL is actively investigating pushing its season into mid-October as the league sensationally banned all fans from its Round 1 fixtures.
The league on Friday night decided to push ahead with Round 1 behind closed doors as it desperately attempts to get its season underway before its inevitable mid-season postponement.
The AFL is set to unveil a set of historic fixturing rules that will allow it to play multiple games in a week in the back-end of the season.
Club might also be able to access top-up players from outside lists given the demands on players, as Sydney star Isaac Heeney admitted playing twice a week for any period would be extremely challenging.
The Herald Sun can reveal the league has already been in contact with the MCC about whether it could still conduct AFL finals in October.
Carlton and Richmond would have split a massive $1.2 million windfall from gate receipts from Thursday’s MCG season opener under their gate-sharing agreement.
Instead only players, coaches, media, umpires and essential officials will be at the ground as the AFL said last night fans who had bought Round 1 tickets would receive refunds.
Every ghost round of the AFL will cost the AFL and its clubs millions of dollars in ticket sales but the league is also aware of its obligations to TV broadcasters in at least getting the season underway.
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Leading sports doctor Peter Brukner yesterday told the Herald Sun football was certain to be shut down at some point in coming weeks.
The AFL is fully aware of that position and wants to play some early rounds to create a “buffer” before the peak of the coronavirus hits Australia through April and May.
One senior club figure said of the league’s need to turn to its $60m future fund: “They have saved that money for a rainy day and right now its p---ing down.”
Of the likely AFL infection of coronavirus, Brukner said: “It is inevitable someone will test positive at an AFL club within weeks”.
“What happens then? You have to cancel or postpone the league. If I had to make a prediction it will be Round 1 at empty stadiums and that will be it. By Round 2 we will be shut down.”
AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan said the AFL would continue to be guided by the most up-to-date advice as it considered “the potential for interruption across the season”.
“The health and safety of fans, players, umpires, officials, partners and communities is the priority, so it is important that we take the advice of those that know best, and that advice right now is to continue with matches but not to host mass gatherings which can put everyone at risk.” McLachlan said.
“I am disappointed for our fans but we cannot put them in a situation that potentially jeopardises the health and well-being of the whole community.”
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The Twenty 20 World Cup starts on October 18 - 21 days after the scheduled September 26 Grand Final - with the first MCG game on October 25.
There is a 21-day exclusion zone before the first MCG game that would prevent the league from playing AFL games in October.
But a deal could be brokered that would allow the AFL to finish its finals series in mid-October before a quick turnaround which saw the MCC installing drop-in pitches before the World Cup match.
Meanwhile, AFL legend Kevin Sheedy says a 17-game season that would restore fairness to footy’s fixture would be a silver lining of the coronavirus crisis.
Essendon premiership coach Sheedy and Sydney champion Jude Bolton said it would be fascinating to see how a 17-game season unfolded.
The league’s 23-match fixture for 18 teams has often been accused of being unfair.
If the league is forced to postpone the season for six to eight weeks and has to use up its two byes, each team playing the other 17 sides might be a perfect solution.
“If it happens, it has been forced upon the AFL,” Sheedy said.
“And if it does happen it’s a bonus and so it will be the first time something happened that might be a positive from a negative, which is what I don't mind. We are concerned about the health of the nation and world so this could be forced upon us but it’s a decision we didn’t have the courage to make that now we might have to look at.”
Bolton has long argued 17 rounds would be create a season without flat spots.
“It would be a good opportunity to trial it. It makes sense. Why wouldn’t you want to condense the season and heighten it like NFL or college football. It gives us a chance to look at it in its purest form,” he said.
“You would look at your schedule and know you played every team once.
“Maybe you might play one marquee game extra but in the middle of winter it feels like it can be significantly long for some teams and that’s why good teams are consistently good at the end of the year.
“Normally you are looking at the start of the season to see how many times you play Richmond or where you play West Coast. That’s the biggest discrimination the league has.”
Originally published as The AFL season is in limbo with Round 1 to be played without fans