Qld sport teams to quarantine after playing Melbourne teams
The NRL and AFL are scrambling after Queensland introduced new hard-line quarantine restrictions which will force teams who play against Melbourne-based teams into mandatory 14-days quarantine amid the escalating COVID-19 outbreak.
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Queensland NRL, AFL and rugby teams who play against Melbourne-based teams will be forced to quarantine for 14 days to prevent COVID outbreaks in the sunshine state.
The NRL and AFL are scrambling amid the new hard-line quarantine restrictions with the AFL hub operating out of the Gold Coast and several interstate teams scheduled for NRL matches in coming weeks.
Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young revealed today she had written to the sporting codes about increased measures to limit the spread of infection in Queensland as the coronavirus outbreak in Victoria worsens with 75 new cases overnight.
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Any Queensland or Queensland-based team who:
– Plays against a Melbourne team in Queensland is required to quarantine after the match for 14 days; or
– Plays in Melbourne is required to quarantine for 14 days on returning to Queensland, or;
– Plays in another state against a team who has been in Melbourne in the preceding 14 days is required to quarantine on their return to Queensland.
It’s understood this order will also apply to the Melbourne Storm, which has just flown into Queensland to base themselves here.
This week’s West Coast vs Richmond clash at Metricon Stadium has also been abandoned because of Victoria’s deepening coronavirus situation.
The Tigers were due to meet the Eagles on the Gold Coast on Thursday night, but Queensland border closures have forced the game to be postponed.
Dr Young said the new measures impacted all Queensland-based teams, regardless of the code, and their interactions with Victorian-based teams.
“These new measures do not prevent Victorian AFL teams travelling to Queensland for existing matches,” she said.
“The new arrangements do however, place extra restrictions on Queensland-based teams who play teams who have been in hot spots.
“This is about protecting Queenslanders.
“We have seen hundreds of COVID-19 cases in Victoria in the last two weeks and there is sustained community transmission there.
“These restrictions are temporary while the situation in Victoria unfolds.
“Should the situation improve then Queensland would of course revise the requirements.
Dr Young said Queensland authorities had “productive conversations” with the AFL across the weekend.
“We understand this may have a temporary impact while Victoria tackles its current outbreak, but we need to take reasonable measures to protect Queenslanders,” she said.
“We’re hopeful Victoria can get on top of its outbreak and we’ve committed to reviewing these extra measures regularly.”
Sports Miniter Mick De Brenni confirmed some games would need to be rescheduled.
“I think that’s a minor inconvenience when it comes to the consideration of the overall health of Queenslanders and the progress that we’ve made on opening our economy,” he said.
“If it means that the AFL, the NRL, the Rugby Union need to change their schedule and move some fixtures around, I think that’s a small inconvenience when it comes to the overall task of flattening the curve and keeping COVID-19 out of our state.”
Mr de Brenni said no one wanted to see an outbreak in Queensland, and the “luxury” of professional sport could not be put ahead of the interests of the state.
“The most important thing that we must continue to do is put the recovery of the Queensland economy, Queensland jobs, and the health of Queenslanders first,” Mr de Brenni said.
“If we put all of that at risk by being lax on restrictions for professional sports players then I think that would set up backwards and we want to keep moving forward.”
AFL boss Gillon McLachlan said the AFL’s rolling fixture could be revisited “daily” and all states and territories remain an option for hubs.
As Victoria’s coronavirus case count skyrocketed to 75 new active cases on Monday and Queensland upped its restrictions on its sporting teams, questions have been raised about how the competition could look in coming weeks and months.
But McLachlan remains committed to seeing the season through, albeit potentially with short notice of when games could be played.
“Clearly, (all teams) will abide by the restrictions. The implications are being worked through at the moment,” he said of the new protocols.
“We’ve got a fixture for this weekend. And we’ll look ahead. The rolling fixture might be sort of daily.”
The Queensland hub is set to draw to a close with a WA hub to begin ahead of Round 7.
But the league chief said that while there is both time and flexibility on the competition’s side, every option remained on the table.
“We have got 118 games to get away,” he said.
“We can compress, we can move, we can - if we need to - have a bye to reset. As we look ahead, I don’t think we need to do that, but we’ve got options. That’s what this is about.
“We had a great run across the country, we’re having a tougher period in Victoria at the moment.”
He said there was communication occurring with the players’ association in relation to the potential for further hubs.
“People understand that there’s going to be sacrifices made to get this season away,” he said.
“The restrictions in hubs are getting less and less in other states, so we can be a bit more flexible with it.
“All states and territories are an option, absolutely.”
The Brisbane Lions and Gold Coast Suns could be forced into a Sydney mini-hub following the tougher quarantine rules.
The Lions are scheduled to play Collingwood at the MCG on Friday week.
Instead of returning to Brisbane after the match and having to spend two weeks in isolation, there is speculations the Lions may now fly to NSW to serve their quarantine period and play the Sydney Swans and GWS Giants in successive weeks.
The Suns are scheduled to fly to Victoria this week to meet Geelong on Saturday night.
They are also due to play in Melbourne the following weekend against Hawthorn.
If that match goes ahead, which at this stage is no certainty, the Suns may also the head to Sydney to serve their two-week quarantine period and play games against the Swans and Giants.
“The Suns might not go back to Queensland,” AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan said.
“They might go other routes. That clearly will be adhered to and it’s word of advice over the coming days about how they traverse back to Queensland, whether they did go back into quarantine or whether it went a different way.”
Originally published as Qld sport teams to quarantine after playing Melbourne teams
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