AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan confirms AFL restart plans
AFL fans have been desperate to know when football is coming back and league chief Gillon McLachlan has finally confirmed the answer. The league has revealed the game’s return strategy, including when can start training.
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The AFL has revealed June 11 as its return-to-footy date for the 2020 season after weeks of uncertainty.
As reported by the Sunday Herald Sun, the season is set to resume on Thursday June 11.
AFL teams will start non-contact training in their home cities from Monday.
But the league won’t have a fixture for the season’s return until at least next week as McLachlan conceded that Marvel Stadium could be a potential Grand Final location.
McLachlan confirmed that all players will begin training on Monday — but limited to groups of eight — before contact training begins on May 25.
All training will commence in home states before Western Australian and South Australian clubs shift to “expensive but manageable” high performance villages – on the Gold Coast – in order to avoid strict coronavirus measures in their home states.
Players will have to undergo rigorous testing before every training session and matches as well as education sessions on safety protocols they will need to follow.
“Today is a significant step in getting footy back for everyone – our fans, our clubs, players, coaches, officials and staff, our broadcast and our corporate partners, and all who love the game,” McLachlan said.
“We know, as this situation continues to evolve, we have to remain agile and flexible to be able to adapt where necessary. We need to ensure we continue to prioritise the health and welfare of everyone. Importantly, we must not place any burden on the public health system.
“We have developed our model as the best option for returning to play, and we’ve done so following extensive consultation, including with the federal, state and territory governments and chief health officers.”
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Players and official will also be subjected to stricter social distancing measures to not only protect them but also the general public.
The league is currently working through the finer details of the new rules with the players’ association, including the penalties that players and officials will face if they are found to break strict distancing and social rules in place to ensure the game’s return is not jeopardised.
It will form a similar structure to that of the tribunal system, McLachlan said, with transgressions graded according to severity.
“They’re being worked through with the players’ association … protocols for the players and officials will have to abide by were enshrined in the AFL rules. So a breach is now a breach of the AFL rules,” he said.
“They will be graded, in the drafts I’ve seen, as intentional, reckless and careless. There’ll be examples of specific ones with guide sanctions.”
He warned that the league planned to be “really tough on that”.
“We’re going to be really tough on that, now it’s been established that it’s part of the protocols and part of the rules, and we’ll be as transparent as we can about the accountabilities,” he said.
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FOOTY IS BACK BABY!!!!!!!#June11
— Mason Cox (@masonsixtencox) May 15, 2020
Players will also face assessments of their living environments before training and competition can begin, including any potential risks posed by housemates or family members who may be working in at-risk industries and then coming and going from the home.
Strict visitation limits will also be in place, with some players even facing the prospect of having to move out of home in order to ensure they are not at risk.
“The environment they’re living in will have a risk assessment of every household,” McLachlan said.
“Broadly, visitation won’t be allowed, but it will be based on the risk assessment.”
It’s been widely speculated league chiefs are aiming for a Thursday night opener between Collingwood and Richmond at the MCG.
But McLachlan did not guarantee the Tigers and Magpies would restart the season.
McLachlan said the fixture would be released in blocks of four to six weeks, with the first set of matches to be unveiled within the next 10 days.
He also poured cold water on the AFL staging the Grand Final in September, saying mid-October was a more realistic date and Marvel Stadium would be considered if the MCG was unavailable.
A major roadblock was cleared on Thursday after West Australian health officials granted permission for the West Coast Eagles and Fremantle to resume light training duties on Monday and full training the following week.
The two Perth teams will now stage a mini pre-season campaign at home before shifting to hubs on the Gold Coast for at least the opening four weeks of the season.
Adelaide and Port Adelaide will join the West Australian club on the Gold Coast as early as next week because of a statewide ban on the gathering of groups of more than 10 until June 8.
Royal Pines Golf Club on the Gold Coast has been identified as a potential hub.
In a win for players, families will be permitted to relocate to the hubs with Eagles, Dockers, Crows and Power players.
The AFL will cover the costs of putting up families, who can stay for the duration of the club relocations.
Six clubs will be based in Queensland, including Gold Coast and the Brisbane Lions.
It will be business as usual for the 10 Victorian clubs and two Sydney teams.
The AFL Players’ Association has also ensured there are no restrictions on the number of listed players the four clubs can bring into the hubs.
Welfare and wellbeing services will also be provided.
The first part of the restarted AFL season will be played exclusively in the eastern states in the hope border restrictions in WA and SA are relaxed after July.
Crows and Power football managers, Adam Kelly and Chris Davies, said they did not believe the season was compromised.
Clarification was being sought on Thursday night whether players across the league could play golf for exercise.
Originally published as AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan confirms AFL restart plans