Matildas to play in deadly virus city

Matildas boss Ante Milicic is determined to keep his players’ focus on their Olympic qualifying hopes, despite the outbreak.

Medical staff transport a victim of the mystery coronavirus at Hinyintan hospital, Wuhan

Matildas boss Ante Milicic is determined to keep his players’ focus on their Olympic qualifying hopes, despite growing concerns over the rapid spread of a deadly and mysterious virus centred on the ­Chinese city where they will play three games next month.

Milicic’s side are due to kick off their Olympic qualifying campaign in 13 days time in the city of Wuhan, despite the spread of a deadly coronavirus that world health chiefs are poised to categorise as a global emergency.

So far three people have died and more than 200 have been infected but Chinese football bosses reportedly have no plans to move the Olympic qualifying games due to be staged in the city at the heart of the outbreak.

Matildas team doctor James Ilic is following the situation in depth and will update the playing group and staff as needed, while correspondence flies between the squad, Football Federation Australia and health authorities.

Australian health officials are screening flights from the area to Sydney, while a Brisbane man was quarantined after arriving home from China on Tuesday.

Milicic said he had “full confidence in the people that will be making these decisions” and added: “We’re just really trying to focus on the football and trust that the appropriate steps have been put in place.

“Those things are out of our control in many respects because decisions will be made based on the safety of the playing group and all the staff, so we just focus on what we can do.”

The mystery virus emerged in the city of Wuhan last month, where the Asian Football Confederation is about to play the qualifiers for the 2020 Olympic women’s football tournament.

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Officials from the FFA have been in constant contact with Australian diplomats in China since the outbreak of the disease, which has been linked to the SARS virus that killed 774 people across the world in 2002 and 2003.

But China’s state-run Xinhua news agency quoted a source at the Chinese Football Association as saying there were currently no plans to move the games.

“They are going to be monitoring it and I’m sure that if it does get to that point then obviously life comes first,” said Matildas vice-captain Steph Catley.

“But if we’re over there and we’re safe, then it’s obviously all about football.”

The new epidemic is a unique strain that originally was believed to have emerged in a seafood market in Wuhan. It has been identified as a coronavirus, one that is communicated from animals to humans, but after recent cases it has now been confirmed by Chinese health officials as also moving between humans.

The outbreak has spread to countries beyond China, while in Wuhan itself temperature-checking machines have been set up around the city for residents to test themselves for feverish symptoms.

The Matildas, whose captain Samantha Kerr opened her goalscoring account for new team Chelsea at the weekend, are due to play Chinese Taipei on February 3, Thailand three days later, and China on February 9, all at the Five Rings Sports Centre in Wuhan.

The team will have its own chef and a beefed-up security presence, but is likely to rely at least in part on local produce.

The FFA and the players’ association have been approached for comment.

Catley was a part of the team knocked out of the Rio Olympics by Brazil in a penalty shootout in 2016, and said the devastating loss still forms part of the narrative of this year’s build-up.

“Those feelings do come back when you think about the Olympics and how disappointing that was,” she said. “That was a long time ago, so it’s quite different, but the feelings are still there.”