VIRUS ENDS SEASON
games being played in one city with players confined to hotels.
But there is also acute awareness that if any players and coaches contract COVID-19 then the competition will have to be suspended, though there is a determination to at least try to play out the final rounds of the season and its finals.
Phoenix haves admitted that staging any more home games is now impossible under the travel restrictions, and FFA staff have been working through the logistics of the whole club decamping to Sydney for the rest of the season.
That would be more palatable if all clubs moved to a centralised venue, though that remains a speculative option in a situation changing by the hour.
It would, though, give clubs more control over players, with officials admitting that outside of training grounds and match-day venues they are reliant on players remembering to follow strict protocols around interacting with as few people as possible.
At least one Sydney player agreed to take a selfie with fans after Saturday’s 0-0 draw with Perth, illustrating the difficulty in staying isolated from potential sources of infection.
The practicalities of playing in one city partly depend on how the other codes move, with the NRL and AFL also looking at similar options.
THE final round of the Sheffield Shield season has been cancelled in response to the global coronavirus pandemic.
Cricket Australia made the announcement yesterday morning, with three matches that were due to start next week being affected. A decision about the Shield final on March 27 is yet to be made.
“At times like this, cricket must take a back seat for the greater good,” Cricket Australia CEO Kevin Roberts said in a statement. The latest announcements comes just a day after Australia’s ChappellHadlee one- day series against New Zealand was abandoned, with the Black Caps team rushing home due to coronavirus precautions.
The Australian under-19s women’s tour of South Africa in April has also been cancelled, while an Australian under-19s indigenous team tour of New Zealand later this month was postponed.