A-League: Melbourne City’s Adrian Luna in limbo as players skip state

All three Melbourne-based A-League teams are set to relocate to Sydney immediately ahead of the NSW-Victoria border closure.

Melbourne City star Adrian Luna, left, is stuck in Melbourne in hotel quarantine. Picture: AAP

Melbourne City star Adrian Luna is caught in his own hellish COVID-19 limbo as teammates and rivals prepare to pack up and escape Victoria to avoid being locked out of the season’s resumption.

With the NSW-Victoria border set to be shut down at midnight on Tuesday, players and staff from Melbourne City, Melbourne Victory and Western United will descend upon Sydney to join the NSW hub and keep their A-League seasons going.

The news will be met with grimaces from the three clubs, who last week expressed a desire to stick with plans to play their remaining regular season games at home — or opt for a fly-in, fly-out approach.

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It’s understood players and staff from all three teams will fly out on Tuesday morning, ahead of the midnight closure of the border.

But one player who won’t be joining that flight is City import Luna, who remains in hotel quarantine in Melbourne after flying home from Uruguay during the league break.

It presents a nightmarish scenario in which he will be stuck on the wrong side of the border once he clears quarantine — unless the 28-year-old playmaker is afforded special dispensation by the NSW government to join his teammates.

City teammate Scott Jamieson is another who faces an agonising decision over whether to join the hub or stay in Melbourne with his partner, who is eight months pregnant.

Jamieson was last week forced out of his home and into temporary hotel accommodation as he lived in one of Melbourne’s 36 “hotspot” suburbs.

Teams will take full rosters into the NSW hub, with coaches expected to have to call on fringe members of their squads as they navigate a demanding schedule which has 27 regular season games being played in just 28 days.

In addition, coaches will be afforded additional substitutions and other concessions to balance out the heavy workload on their players.

Perth Glory and Wellington Phoenix had already agreed to relocate to Sydney until the end of the season, while just one scheduled fixture — the July 19 clash between Brisbane Roar and Adelaide United — is set to take place outside NSW.

However, FFA has consistently said it reserves the right to make last-minute changes to venues, and there remains a strong possibility that all 27 regular season games could take place in NSW.

The A-League season is due to resume on July 16 with a game between Melbourne Victory and Western United, which had been pencilled in for AAMI Park but will now need a NSW venue.

There are seven fixtures — six involving Melbourne teams — yet to be assigned venues.