Phoenix cleared for A-League takeoff
Wellington Phoenix will fly to Sydney today after receiving clearance for their New Zealand-based players and staff to enter Australia.
Chairman Rob Morrison said at a press conference yesterday they had received verbal approval to enter and to train while undergoing a mandatory 14-day quarantine.
The third-placed Phoenix are scheduled to resume their 2019-20 A-League campaign on July 17 against Sydney FC at Jubilee Stadium, with five more regularseason matches and the finals series to follow.
Phoenix general manager David
Dome began the week by airing the club’s frustrations with how long it was taking them to receive the exemption they needed to enter Australia, where the border is closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Initially they were expecting to receive it on Monday, which would have allowed them to fly on Wednesday, but when they were told they could expect to hear no earlier than late Tuesday, they went public with their concerns. The club’s frustration stemmed from the fact that they will now be playing catchup to their A-League rivals, who started training with their full (or close-to-full) squads earlier this week.
‘‘I know there are some people who don’t think we can walk and chew gum at the same time but it is actually possible to book a plane and get permission, and we’ve done that,’’ Morrison said.
‘‘We’ve had the verbal clearance come through, so they’re just waiting on the paperwork, but we’ve got the verbal clearance so that’s all go.
‘‘It’s a tough process, there’s no favours there – not that we expected any. We knew there was a process to get through, and we’ve got through. Domey and [operations manager] Shaun Gill and the FFA guys, Greg
O’Rourke, worked really hard to get it done and the verbal confirmation came from the FFA this morning, so we can take off, and we can land.
‘‘It is a charter flight, and the charter flight was done on the basis that it’s the easiest way to ensure safety in terms of a health point of view. It’s a lot trickier if everyone was sitting on a commercial flight.’’
A squad of 24 is set to assemble in Sydney, where most of the remaining A-League matches will be played.
A total of 16 players will be coming from Wellington, including fit-again Louis Fenton, and will link with six already in Australia, while Ulises Da´ vila and Gary Hooper are on their way from Mexico and the
United Kingdom respectively.
Da´vila and Hooper are set to undergo a separate 14-day hotel quarantine from the rest of the Phoenix party, who will be allowed to train together straight away.
‘‘There’s discussions with the FFA to either put a treadmill or a bike into their room so they can keep active, so we’ll see how they come out,’’ coach Ufuk Talay said. ‘‘It is what it is, the situation.
‘‘I don’t like making up excuses, but we’ll come across every challenge that’s thrown in front of us, and once we get the group together and Uli and Hoops are out of quarantine, we’ll manage them to make sure they’re ready.’’
Wellington-based players and staff had Covid-19 tests on Wednesday and are set to be tested twice more while in quarantine in Sydney.
This will be the second time the Phoenix have gone through a quarantine period in Sydney.
The first, in late March, ended after six nights, as they returned home ahead of the closure of the New Zealand border, with the A-League put on hold.
Before they left, Phoenix players Tim Payne and Oli Sail, went on a drunken joy ride in a golf cart and breached quarantine, but while they have both been banned for the club’s next four matches, they have not been prevented from returning to Australia.
The Phoenix sit third on the A-League ladder at present, though have three games in hand on Melbourne City, who sit four points ahead of them, with frontrunners Sydney FC another eight points out in front.
‘‘It’s a tough process, there’s no favours there – not that we expected any.’’