AFL CEO and executives could skip quarantine if SA wins grand final bid
SA Premier offers AFL boss Gillon McLachlan and other major stakeholders to let them skip 14 days of quarantine if his state wins the grand final.
AFL
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The AFL’s CEO Gillon McLachlan and major stakeholders could skip South Australia’s 14-day quarantine period to attend the grand final, if the state wins the bid.
Premier Steven Marshall said on Thursday exemptions might be part of the deal to get the game to SA.
“We’re still working through some other arrangements to do with some of the VIPs and stakeholders at this stage but that’s work SA Health is working through … If they safe they can do it safely, that's fantastic,” he said.
“There are some that will need to do 14-days of quarantine, for example the technical broadcast skills needed. We’ll provide an arrangement for them to come into SA but do that 14 days.”
Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said the safety of South Australians would not be compromised if key AFL personnel entered the state.
“We are looking at a process which will ensure the safety of South Australians but enable key personnel from the AFL and other relevant stakeholders to come into SA, participate in the event and leave SA in a safe way,” he said.
“We’re not at this point talking about 14-day quarantine prior to the event but we will ensure those people who need to come in for that purpose will be managed and the safety of the SA community from a COVID-19 perspective will be maintained.
“There are a whole range of logistics that need to be worked through. The Stadium Management Authority is working with SA Health to look at how that will play out if we are successful with the bid.”
Mr Marshall will present SA’s pitch to the AFL on Thursday afternoon and said high profile South Australians were involved, including former professional basketballer and Adelaide Crows Women’s Co-Captain Erin Phillips.
Mr McLachlan, the AFL chairman Richard Goyder and other senior executives will be on the panel and make the final decision either this week or early next.
Mr Marshall again stipulated health and the way the state managed the COVID-19 pandemic would be highly regarded by the AFL.
He said the state also had a strong footy-loving history which was a part of its pitch.
“We’re putting our best foot forward and you have to be in it to win it. Adelaide Oval has proven to be such a great and safe stadium and that’s going to be absolutely critical to the AFL,” Mr Marshall said.
“The grand final will be held in the second half of October. We have had in the past an agreement with SA health to take the capacity of Adelaide Oval up to 25,000 people but this is subject to what’s happening in terms of the coronavirus.
“I’m not going to reveal the range that we’ll be presenting this afternoon because I’m not in the habit of telling our competitors what we’ll be bidding for but I think because we’ve managed the coronavirus well and we have an excellent working relationship between the Adelaide Oval and SA Health that we’ve put ourselves in a really good position to have a good crowd. There will be plenty of noise.”
However, WA Premier Mark McGowan said there were a number of reasons why the game should be played at Optus Stadium in Perth, including the fact taxpayers spent $2billion on a new stadium used mostly for AFL.
“We’ve been a football state forever,” he said.
“I put our credentials against anyone.”
There are also unconfirmed reports the WA Government offered the AFL $30m to host the event.
Mr McGowan said if the AFL wanted to hold the grand final in WA, it needed to follow its health, safety and quarantine rules.
“Clearly Queensland is doing a different approach, good luck to them,” he said.
“But we haven’t had community spread of the virus here either and we’ve got a stronger economy than any other state.”
In Queensland, Tourism Minister Kate Jones wouldn’t reveal if the state government offered any financial incentives to host the game, saying it was commercial-in-confidence.
“It’s fair to say that one thing I think the AFL recognises is that we have a huge legacy card to play here in Queensland about growing the sport, getting young people fit, healthy and active in the AFL,” she said.
“We believe that other economies such as WA and SA are already saturated markets.
“If they’re (the AFL) making a wise decision about the growth of the game for the AFL moving forward, then Queensland absolutely has the upper hand.”
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