AFL Covid-19 crisis: Crows respond after AFL hands down $50,000 fine over breach
Crows players don’t believe they’re above the rules, according to footy boss Adam Kelly who blamed complacency for the breach. Here’s the club’s response to the huge fine.
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An apologetic Adelaide has blamed complacency for five players and three staff flouting Covid-19 rules on a commercial flight, which has prompted a $50,000 AFL fine.
The league issued the sanction on Saturday after an investigation found Crows personnel had not been wearing face masks correctly on the trip home from Sydney last Sunday.
Crows football manager Adam Kelly said the club was concerned how the breach would influence key decision-making, in a week SA Health and the State Government only approved its home game against Collingwood on Saturday under strict conditions.
The Magpies entered Adelaide without public interaction earlier on Saturday and both clubs were set to self-isolate after their match.
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Kelly would not name the eight people who broke the rules on the plane after the loss to Richmond, saying the entire group was at fault because they did not bring them to account.
“We had about 55 people in that travelling party, all of which, on that flight, could’ve done something about it if they had seen anyone wearing the mask incorrectly, so we share the blame together,” Kelly said in the wake of the AFL’s sanction.
“Any time you have anyone in the community reflect on the behaviours of your people in a negative way, it certainly makes your stomach turn.
“You’re concerned for the impact it’s going to have on your people, you’re concerned for how it’s going to influence decision-making and it’s obviously been a really concerning week.
“I don’t think our players believe they’re above the rules, what they were was complacent.
“It’s obviously really disappointing but even more so we’re apologetic to people on the plane that the behaviours of some of our staff and players have made people on that plane uncomfortable.
“We’re apologetic to the AFL, who must be incredibly frustrated at a time when they’re working so hard with governments to continue the season throughout the pandemic.
“Then to our members, who are no doubt disappointed in this - it’s a significant financial impact on the club.”
Asked whether SA Health could be confident the Crows would adhere to SA Health’s instruction to self-isolate for up to 48 hours post-match on Saturday night, Kelly said: “In this instance, it’s complacent, it’s unacceptable, but throughout (the pandemic) our players have done a lot”.
“This week we were subject to Covid tests not required by SA Health, not required by the AFL, it was a step the club took as a precautionary step because we were interstate on a domestic flight.
“We feel like we go over and above at times to ensure our players and our staff are safe, and keeping the community safe.”
Speaking at a chairman’s lunch at Adelaide Oval before Saturday’s game, Crows chairman John Olsen said the club would cop the $50,000 fine.
“We did not meet our own standards and some individuals let us down,” he said.
“There won’t be a reoccurrence.”
Kelly said Adelaide would not impose any further punishments.
“We’ve spoken to them individually and spoken to them collectively but ... we need to be better at helping each other as well,” he said.
“Anyone who didn’t say something will feel as guilty.”
Kelly said Virgin Australia management told the club flight attendants did not log any concerns about the Crows not wearing face masks correctly.
He said the Crows were on a commercial, rather than charted plane, because New South Wales did not have community transmission and the risk was not as high.
Mr Olsen also told the lunch crowd the club was still yet to decide between the Brompton Gasworks site or Thebarton Oval for its new base.
AFL comes down hard Crows over Covid breach
Adelaide has been fined $50,000 for breaching Covid-19 protocols after it was found a number of players and officials failed to “properly” wear face masks on a commercial flight from Sydney to Adelaide last weekend.
The AFL and the club investigated the matter this week, which followed the 28-point loss to Richmond last Sunday.
AFL general counsel Andrew Dillon said there were no excuses for the breach, saying 100 per cent of the fine would be included in the club’s football department soft cap.
“First and foremost, we all have a very clear responsibility to ensure we do everything we can to best protect the health and wellbeing of our family, friends and everyone in the community,” Dillon said.
“The rule here is clear and has been in place for some time and there is simply no excuse for not abiding by it.
“We will not compromise the health and wellbeing of the community, and remind everyone in the industry – players, coaches, officials and staff - that they have a responsibility to adhere to the rules for the safety of everyone.”
The Crows played Richmond at Giants Stadium last Sunday, after Melbourne’s lockdown meant the game had to be shifted from the MCG.
Adelaide flew to Sydney on Saturday and arrived back in SA on Sunday following the tough loss.
But after a person contacted Triple M on Thursday, and claimed several Crows players weren’t appropriately wearing masks on the flight from Sydney, the club has asked the AFL to investigate.
It comes as the Crows match against Collingwood on Saturday at Adelaide Oval will be played under the strictest Covid restrictions for an AFL match.
The league is dependent on the goodwill of State Governments to keep the 2021 season alive.
The passenger on the flight from Sydney said the stewards had told the Crows travelling party that they had to wear masks on the plane.
“And as soon as they were told, they took them off, they totally disregarded everything,” she said.
“They were walking around the plane, I wasn’t the only one who was noticing it. There were people near me and behind saying hang on why do they get to take their masks off?
“It was complete disregard for everyone else on board.”
The passenger sent Triple M Adelaide breakfast co-host Chris Dittmar photos of the Crows players and staff without masks on walking around the plane.
“The stewards actually asked them to put them on... yet they didn’t comply with it,” she said.
“No-one in the team was saying nothing whatsoever.”
The passenger said she had contacted the club about it, and spoke to a member of the Crows’ executive team.
“They were very sorry,” she said.
Crows players were tested prior and after the game against Richmond, with no positive tests.
In a statement, the Crows said the club acknowledged the government requirement for people to wear masks in airports and on all domestic commercial flights to minimise the risk of transmission of COVID-19.
“Our coaches, players and staff understand it is a privilege to be playing football during these times, as well as the need to adhere to protocols and guidance from health authorities,” the club said.
“The club is fully co-operating with the league and awaits the findings of the investigation.”
Dittmar’s Triple M co-host, and Crows board member, Mark Ricciuto said it needed to be investigated.
“It’s not good, and it’s not good enough is the point,” he said.
“It needs to be sorted ASAP.”
Last year, 16 Adelaide players received suspended one match sanctions, and then assistant coach Ben Hart was stood down from his duties for six weeks after it emerged they had breached the AFL’s Covid-19 protocols while self-isolating in the Barossa Valley.
The players’ suspended sanctions were only in place for the 2020 season.
Strict rules to be applied after Pies game
Adelaide players and staff who are part of the Crows match day contingent will be whisked away from Adelaide Oval on a private bus before returning home to self-isolate for up to 48 hours after taking on Collingwood.
But their family members won’t have to self-isolate as well for the 48 hours after Saturday’s match, and undergo two Covid tests, as Crows players and staff return to the AFL’s 2020 restrictions.
The first two rows of Adelaide Oval will also be kept empty for the clash, as the Crows and Magpies prepare to face off under the strictest Covid-19 rules ever introduced for an AFL match.
After days of negotiations between health chiefs and AFL bosses, SA Health has given the Magpies the green light for 35 Collingwood players, coaches and officials to fly in and out of Adelaide to get Saturday’s match away.
Collingwood players and staff will fly in and out of Adelaide on a private charter and will travel between the airport and Adelaide Oval in a “sterile corridor” under police escort.
Magpies players and staff will have to self-isolate for 60-hours prior to the game, not even allowed to go outside to get food and essentials.
Some Collingwood players will spend Thursday and Friday nights in a hotel as part of these quarantine requirements.
After the game Adelaide players and staff themselves have to self-isolate for up to 48 hours, until they return two negative Covid tests.
Crows senior coach Matthew Nicks said he and his players would be allowed to go to the club’s West Lakes headquarters for recovery during that period.
“Post the game my understanding at the moment is that we are straight onto a bus from the oval, so that takes away any risk of us interacting with people in the carpark,” he said.
“We will go back to a central location where our cars are and from that point there will be only place we will visit at all will be the club for recovery on Sunday and Monday.
“Other than that we will be at home for that 48 hour period or until we get advice that we can leave.”
Players and staff families will be able to leave the houses in this period, in a throwback to the restrictions the AFL imposed on players, coaches and staff last year.
“My understanding is that it is the same as we had for most of last year,” Nicks said.
“As a coach I won’t leave the house, I won’t go to shops, cafes, the only place I will be going to is to work.”
It comes as South Australian Premier Steven Marshall backed a controversial decision to allow Collingwood into SA to play the Crows and skip 14 days of quarantine, while chief health officer Prof Nicola Spurrier also laughed off her “don’t touch that ball” comments.
Saying her “natural inclination” when a ball came to her was to duck, Prof Spurrier said she hadn’t known large numbers of fans tried to mark the ball if it was kicked into the crowd.
She said touching the ball was okay, but recommended anyone sanitise their hands if they did so – something she’d say before and after Covid.
“We would not allow the football here if we didn’t think it was safe,” she said.
Prof Spurrier says her advice to avoid the ball at the Crows match was a bit tongue in cheek — but said it would be wise for anyone to wash their hands if they handled a ball regardless of the pandemic.
“Regardless of Covid, this ball has been touched by many sweaty men on the field — sanitise your hands before you start eating your chips,” she said.
The first two rows of Adelaide Oval will be kept empty for the Adelaide-Collingwood match as a precaution against fans trying to “high-five” or touch players, Prof Spurrier confirmed.
Nicks said it wasn’t his place to comment on the protocols that would be put in place regarding fans on Saturday, but did say keeping the nets up behind the goal during the match “wouldn’t be a bad idea”.
He also said the footy industry was doing everything it could to keep people safe.
“We are doing whatever we can to keep the game safe, keep our supporters safe and it has been a pretty tough time for everyone,” he said.
“We understand what is needed for the possibility of playing footy, the flexibility that we have to show.”
Duck! SA Government’s advice to fans
Adelaide Oval fans have been urged to “duck” and avoid touching the ball during the Crows-Collingwood clash on Saturday as the South Australia government introduces the strictest Covid-19 rules ever for an AFL match.
The league took until Wednesday afternoon before agreeing to terms that would allow a group of 35 Magpies, including players and staff, an exemption to fly in and out for the match.
SA Chief Public Health Officer Prof Nicola Spurrier said they were still working through seating arrangements at Adelaide Oval and “we are looking at the ball”.
“Because sometimes, not that I’ve been to many football games, I have noticed that the ball sometimes gets kicked into the crowd and we are working through the details of what that means,” she said.
“If you are at Adelaide Oval and the ball does come towards you my advice to you is to duck and just do not touch that ball.”
The SA Government and SA Health granted Collingwood approval on Tuesday night to play the round 12 match in Adelaide, as revealed by the Adelaide Advertiser, but the AFL initially baulked at signing off on the extreme conditions.
The league announced on Wednesday that the Magpies would play in Adelaide and would have to adhere to the following rules:
Hope everyone at Adelaide oval this weekend remembers the 5 D’s of Dodgeball. pic.twitter.com/gBavMWylON
— Adam Tomlinson (@adamtomlinson20) June 2, 2021
JUST 35 Collingwood players, coaches and officials will take a charter flight to Adelaide on Saturday where they will then board a bus and head straight to the Adelaide Oval for the 4.05pm match.
TO ensure the fixture goes ahead, Collingwood players and their families were on Wednesday night under strict quarantine measures, as Victoria remains in lockdown.
COLLINGWOOD will be Covid tested pre-flight and all players – including the Crows – will be tested again 48 hours later and will have restrictions on their movements until every test is back and they are all negative, according to the South Australian government.
ARRANGEMENTS will ensure the players have “limited” exposure while in SA, and
THE Magpies will depart Adelaide as soon as possible post game.
Prof Spurrier said each Collingwood player would also have to sign a statutory declaration to say they hadn’t visited a Tier 1 or 2 exposure site.
“This group of players have very tough conditions on them – they will be here, they will play the match, they will be leaving,” she said
“We could not get the team here to quarantine, this is the other way of doing it.”
On Wednesday Adelaide Oval’s Stadium Management Authority said there wasn’t any forecasted change to its seating plan at the venue.
STRICT CONDITIONS FOR PIES’ WHIRLWIND SA VISIT REVEALED
Collingwood has been told it can only bring a “skeleton staff” on its fly-in fly-out mission to Adelaide to take on the Crows on Saturday.
SA Health has ordered the Magpies to pare back its contingent for the game, saying only essential staff can make the trip.
They must also comply with strict regulations during their short window of time in Adelaide.
South Australian Police Commissioner Grant Stevens also confirmed on 5AA on Wednesday the future of matches involving Victorian teams playing in Adelaide won’t be decided until after this weekend’s game.
“That was a decision that was made by SA Health (to allow the Collingwood game), they have an exemptions team that assess applications for people to come in outside the restrictions we have for people coming into South Australia,” Police Commissioner Stevens said.
“I do know SA Health have required the Collingwood Football Club to pare back (their numbers) for … those people who really need to come.
“I don’t know who is on the list, but I do know it has been pared back.
“I do know the steps they are taking to ensure the safety of the South Australian community. “For example, the Collingwood Football Club will charter flights in, there will be sterile corridors to the venue, (they will be) flying in and out on the same day, Covid testing pre departure and on arrival, the team they are playing will have Covid testing as well.
“They are putting in a lot of steps to ensure that this can be done safely.”
Police Commissioner Stevens also added: “Obviously we are very concerned with what’s happening in Victoria, and until we are completely satisfied that they have ring fenced this particular outbreak and there is no more community transmission in Victoria, particularly from an unidentified source perspective, then we need to be thinking about what those next steps might be for us.
“I think they (SA Health) are going to reassess after this game in terms of what it looks like going forward for the rest of the fixture if Victorians are in a situation where they can’t travel freely to and from Victoria.”
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