Revealed: The plans to keep big sporting events in Melbourne
With the number of daily coronavirus infections continuing to fall, sports chiefs are growing hopeful sporting stars and spectators could attend big events like the Australian Open and Boxing Day test. So what will our biggest events look like under our COVID normal?
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Sports chiefs are working on a quarantine scheme for international tennis stars and their teams to ensure elite players contest the Australian Open, as plans for crowds at major events during the pandemic are drawn up.
With the number of daily coronavirus infections continuing to fall, a range of scenarios are being considered to have spectators at the Boxing Day Test, the Australian Open and the Grand Prix next year.
But while the preference is to allow crowds with social distancing rules, the Sunday Herald Sun can reveal that plans to get tennis aces to Australia even if no one is watching inside the arena – which is what happened at the recent US Open.
The Australian Open is a big jewel in Victoria’s major events crown, and is beamed to tens of millions of people around the world, meaning the emphasis is locking in players.
A quarantine system to allow their support staff and families access to Melbourne is being drafted, but will require state and federal government sign-off.
Boxing Day test match crowds are still likely in Melbourne for the biggest cricket match of the year, but if coronavirus numbers are not under control a change of schedule may be enforced to maximise revenue and people on seats.
The prospect of Melbourne losing that fixture would be tough to bear after the AFL Grand Final was shifted to Brisbane for the first time.
Earlier this month, Premier Daniel Andrews flagged a return to spectators at major events such as the Spring Racing Carnival, as long as cases were at low levels.
Tourism, Sport and Major Events Minister Martin Pakula told the Sunday Herald Sun the government was confident the challenges of a pandemic could be met.
“We expect all of those events – the Spring Carnival, the Boxing Day Test, the Australian Open and the F1 Grand Prix – to go ahead in Melbourne,” he said.
“In the era of coronavirus there are challenges all over the world when it comes to holding major events – whether it’s getting participants through quarantine or ensuring socially distanced crowds.
“But we are working with our partners and we are very confident we can meet those challenges, provided we can continue to drive infection numbers down.”
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