MCG security: Fans urged to arrive early for AFL games after security revamp

The MCG is confident there’ll be no more security breaches after two men allegedly brought guns to an AFL game two weeks ago, but fans are being urged to arrive early ahead of a bumper week.

The MCG is urging fans to arrive early for the biggest fortnight of football for the year as it backed in its security system in the wake of a gun scare.

Two men have been charged after it was alleged they entered the MCG in the possession of firearms during Collingwood’s Round 4 clash with Carlton.

But after a rare break of games at the famed ground due to Gather Round in Adelaide, MCG chief Stuart Fox said that the stadium team had utilised the time to fine-tune its system.

“We’ve obviously done a huge review after the incident, and we’re terribly disappointed that it happened given how many people we let through the gates every year,” Fox said on Tuesday at the ground.

Fans faced a long wait in Round 4.

Long lines outside the MCG in Round 4.

“But what has changed is the secondary screening process. It wasn’t a technology fault at the stadium – I can assure patrons and fans of that. It was our secondary screening process that let us down and we’ve made improvements to that process.

“It’s a lot more thorough, it’s more detailed, a two-step process … most of the patrons won’t feel that, because they’ll come straight through the tech system and come straight into the stadium through the turnstiles.

“I can assure you, we are using some of the best technology in the world. We research that ... we’re talking with tech providers.

“We’ve currently got what we believe to be some of the best technology in this stadium, and it has not let us down to date. It was the secondary and manual process.”

Fox refused to be drawn on how the two men — who were charged with firearms offences including one man charged with possessing a loaded firearm — had bypassed the added layers to the system, nor would he go into detail on the stringency of the new processes.

But he said that staff members at the centre of the incident had not been let go and that it had served as a significant reminder to all those on the ground at games at the risks that could be posed.

Fans entering the ground pass through an artificial intelligence security system that then flags any potential issue to security who then complete a secondary layer of screening.

Human error had been blamed for the incident that occurred in Round 4, but Fox said no staff member had been let go as a result and that it had been somewhat of a “wake up call” and “blessing” to now reassess the security measures.

“The incident has caused us to review and consider things differently and tighten things further,” he said.

More than 80,000 people are expected on Easter Monday for Geelong’s traditional clash with Hawthorn and a crowd of more than 90,000 forecast for Anzac Day next Friday.

Fox said fans should consider arriving to the ground earlier than usual to allow for timely passage to their seats.

“In Australian sport, people do like to arrive late,” he said.

“But they should expect some congestion if that happens … the messages for fans for the next set of games is to please arrive earlier than you would normally. We’re opening the gates a bit earlier – that doesn’t alleviate the problem, as it’s always the late walk-up (that presents an issue), but please come earlier. Up to an hour earlier, that would help us enormously.”

He said if patrons “need to bring a bag, pack light, and know what’s in that bag”, as bag searches take time.

Originally published as MCG security: Fans urged to arrive early for AFL games after security revamp