A-LEAGUE DODGES A BULLET
Melbourne teams allowed to enter NSW
THE A-League season has dodged a COVID-19 bullet.
With the fate of its season hanging in the balance, Football Federation Australia on Tuesday struck a deal with the NSW government to free the three trapped Melbourne sides – saving the season which is set to resume next week.
Teams were given the green light late on Tuesday to grab their bags and, for the second time in 24 hours, jump on a plane to Canberra and make their way to the A-League hub in Sydney. Only this time, they were cleared for takeoff.
It capped off an extraordinary 24 hours for the code, following a failed 11th hour attempt by all three teams to sneak into NSW on Monday night in a bid to beat the border shutdown which came into play at midnight.
That plan never got off the tarmac – literally – as the squads of Melbourne City, Melbourne Victory and Western United were left stranded at Tullamarine Airport as fog descended on Canberra, with the limited visibility making it unsafe to fly.
Late on Tuesday, just nine days out from the scheduled season resumption, FFA secured the special exemption required from the NSW government to clear the three teams as the entire city of Melbourne went into six weeks of lockdown following a further 191 fresh cases on Tuesday.
NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro extended an olive branch to FFA, suggesting the A-League could be afforded the same level of sympathy that allowed the NRL to restart in May.
“You’ve heard me on the NRL and the importance of sport and I think we’ve got to work with the FFA,” he said.
“So I’ll be reaching out to the FFA and see what support they need. But of course, if we’ve got an opportunity to do so, let’s bring them across the border, lets park them in the regions or here in the city and make sure they’re part of the A-League.”
The season is set to resume on July 16.