NRL 2020: Referee Gerard Sutton stood down over COVID-19 scare
The NRL’s top referee, Gerard Sutton, has been forced into isolation after a positive coronavirus case at his child’s high school in Sydney.
NRL
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The NRL’s top referee Gerard Sutton has been forced to stand down over a coronavirus scare.
He has a child at Camden High School which has recorded a positive test.
Sutton refereed Thursday night’s Panthers v Rabbitohs game but has now undergone tests for coronavirus and been placed in isolation.
There are no suggestions the players from that game will have to be tested.
It is an identical situation to Canterbury Bulldogs front-rower Aiden Tolman who was forced to stand down for two weeks because one of his children attended a primary school in Caringbah where a teacher had tested positive.
Camden High School in Sydney’s southwest was closed yesterday for cleaning after a Year 7 student tested positive to COVID-19 — the fifth case at a school in the past month.
Sutton was to attend another game this weekend as a referee’s coach.
The NRL’s Head of Football Graham Annesley confirmed last night Sutton had undergone a test which came back negative.
“There are strict protocols that our referees follow the same as the players,” Annesley said.
“Our biosecurity experts are handling the situation.
“We expect they’ll tell us Gerard ill be unavailable for a couple of weeks.”
Referees have been under the same isolation rules as the players since the premiership resumed in round three.”
Originally published as NRL 2020: Referee Gerard Sutton stood down over COVID-19 scare