Crowds could soon be allowed for Adelaide Oval matches, but SA AFL players won’t get travel exemptions
The State Government is standing firm on not allowing border exemptions for SA’s AFL players, but negotiations have started to get fans back to Adelaide Oval this season.
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Premier Steven Marshall is blocking travel exemptions for the Crows and Power, but fans could soon get the green-light to attend games at Adelaide Oval.
The Advertiser can reveal the Stadium Management Authority is working with Port Adelaide, the Crows, other codes and government to stage games before crowds at Adelaide Oval this year while adhering to COVID-19 social distance guidelines.
“Any return to having crowds at games is likely to be a staged process and we are involved in ongoing discussions with the codes and the relevant government agencies about what that might look like,” said an Adelaide Oval spokesman.
“It goes without saying that we would love to be able to welcome fans back to Adelaide Oval as soon as government and health authority advice makes this possible.
“Having crowds would obviously enable us to start bringing our passionate and hardworking staff back to work.”
SACA and SMA are preparing for India to quarantine at Adelaide Oval and the possibility of fans attending Test and one-day games this summer.
No border exemption coming for Port, Crows
However, Mr Marshall has no plans to relax border restrictions in a blow to Adelaide and Port Adelaide’s hopes of travel exemptions from the AFL’s Round 6.
AFL fixture boss Travis Auld on Monday said the competition was “in the hands” of the Marshall Government regarding approval of Adelaide and Port to fly in and fly out for games.
The need for fixture certainty forced the AFL to schedule Crows and Power games on the Gold Coast from Rounds 3-5 after the June 12, Round 2 Showdown revealed on Monday.
Auld said even if the Government relaxed restrictions, the Crows and Power would still play interstate from Round 3.
“The plan at the moment is to certainly leave them in Queensland for that period,” he said. “We need to create some certainty (in the fixtures) but what it does do though is they are only there for the four week period if the regulations change and we can schedule them back in their home state.”
But the State Government said there was no change, at this point, to its stance on borders, dealing a blow to these hopes, post Round 5. “The South Australian Government has no intention of relaxing its border restrictions at the moment, but we will continue to monitor the situation closely,” a spokesman said.
The next batch of AFL fixtures is set to be outlined after Round 3, while Auld said the AFL would wait to see what the restrictions were in SA.
“Ideally we get at the end of this four week block and things progress and we have the ability at some point for these teams to get back and play in their own state,” he said.
“It is just unknown … we are in their hands. All I can say is that we are ready to adapt if things change really quickly.”
Inspirational NRL chairman Peter V’landys wants rugby league crowds back by July 1 and regrets shutting down the competition due to COVID-19 concerns.
Port Adelaide chief executive Keith Thomas said the club was optimistic games could be scheduled before fans once the state government eases restrictions.
“At the right time, our members and supporters will be able to come back to games and we are exploring different ideas as to how this might look,” Thomas told The Advertiser.
“We love nothing more than playing at Adelaide Oval in front of our home crowd but right now our responsibility is to abide by the rules and protocols and set the right standards for the community to ensure the safety and wellbeing of everyone.”
Mr Marshall hopes there is “more good news” to follow regarding crowds at AFL matches.
“We would like to get back to South Australia to a more normal state as quickly as possible but that will really be dependent on the number of new cases and a high level of testing,” said Mr Marshall.
Any return of crowds to Adelaide Oval would provide a vital financial boost to the COVID-19 hit membership models of the Crows, Power and SMA.
AFL fixtures boss Travis Auld has categorically ruled out any connection with the Crows’ Barossa isolation breach and denial of travel exemptions for matches.
Adelaide chief executive Andrew Fagan said the club had no option but to follow the advice of authorities before fly-in, fly exemptions were granted or fans were allowed at Adelaide Oval.
“We’d love for our members and fans to be cheering us on at Adelaide Oval as they are the most passionate and loyal fans in the country,” Fagan said.
“However, we also recognise these are unprecedented times and we must adhere to the advice of government and health authorities, and we will continue to be guided by them as the wellbeing of the entire community should always take precedence.”