AFL coronavirus tests come back negative as league announces plans to inspect the house of every player
More than 1260 coronavirus tests were conducted on AFL players and officials during the week and Gillon McLachlan has the results. The update came after the league announced players would be subjected to house inspections.
Sydney
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AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan has revealed he is getting a daily log of all players and officials tested for COVID-19 as the league endeavours to prevent another league shutdown.
A day after announcing the 2020 season would resume on June 11, McLachlan detailed that more than 1260 tests had been undertaken and all had been negative.
He stressed that he remained hopeful if a player or official tests positive to coronavirus in the coming months, the protocols in place would allow football to keep operating.
“I don’t know if I’m supposed to be saying this or not but it’s automatic it goes into a system,” McLachlan said on Fox Footy.
“Over the last two months I’ve been getting updates every single day.
“I’ve got a log of every player on the list and anyone who’s checked in with a symptom has been tested over that period. It’s all pretty automated and pretty organised.
“This morning I got a log through and I hope I’m not speaking out of term, there’s over 1260 tests that have been done, they’re all negative this morning.”
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Asked if measures were in place to keep the competition running if a player tests positive during the course of the rebooted season, McLachlan added:
“Obviously it’s a hypothetical and will depend on the circumstances of when and where they are in the week... they’ll be tested 24 hours out from any contact, so it will only go ahead if there’s no negatives.”.
“Other than that they’re restricted to groups of eight players.
“So you’ll know where they are in the cycle and what the implications are but broadly that player will be sat out and anyone who has had close contact in the last 24 to 48 hours will be stood down.”
AFL WON’T SHUT DOOR ON HOUSEMATES
The AFL is creating match-review type penalties to deal with any potential player breach of new health protocols as the league heads towards a June 11 restart.
AFL boss Gillon McLachlan said on Friday house inspections would be conducted at the residence of every player in the country to judge whether living conditions were appropriate.
Partners, teammates and family members will be allowed to stay under the same roof, but will also have to follow strict AFL guidelines.
The AFL won’t evict housemates out of shared accommodation with players.
Instead, the league will work closely with all parties to ensure everything complies with the strict AFL protocols.
Part of that could include putting in extra hygiene options or different meal structures.
Only as a last resort would players move at the league’s expense, not the housemate.
“We’ve got a set of protocols and we’ll be accountable to them,” McLachlan said.
“It’s as simple as … the environment they’re living in, there will be an assessment of every house.”
McLachlan also confirmed players would be banned from having unnecessary visitors.
Aside from allowances to shop for food and groceries and seek medical assistance, players will be expected to live between their club and home.
Visits to pubs and restaurants will be forbidden, and they will have mandatory COVID-19 tests twice weekly.
Results will be back within 24 hours and will be known before a game. McLachlan confirmed players would continue to be drug-tested.
Any player who broke the rules would be punished under a similar graded structure to the match review system — which included fines, suspensions or even being referred to the AFL Commission.
“They will be graded, in the drafts I’ve seen, as intentional, reckless and careless,” McLachlan said.
“(Penalties) are being worked through with the players’ association.”