AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan has conceded that the competition's 2 NSW-based teams, Sydney and the GWS Giants, volition beryllium connected the roadworthy for the remainder of the year.
The NSW authorities announced 97 caller cases of coronavirus connected Wednesday, extending the existent Greater Sydney lockdown by a further 2 weeks, leaving the imaginable of the 2 teams heading location highly unlikely.
McLachlan said the families of the 2 teams were the AFL's "priority" and revealed that the league is moving with 3 authorities governments to reunite players with their families.
"We're successful treatment with the Victorian, the Queensland and the NT governments and we're moving done however it mightiness look successful each state," helium said.
"We're having productive conversations and we'll beryllium talking to the clubs astir what each of the options look similar time and past evidently successful performance with them, talking to families.
"[The fig of household members allowed] volition beryllium connected the options and the circumstances. There are 2 clubs whose families are our precedence present arsenic it's played retired implicit the past fewer days.
"We had each the partners and others successful assorted forms successful the hubs past twelvemonth and we've tried to debar getting determination this twelvemonth and we've done reasonably successfully having aggregate teams connected the roadworthy for two-to-three weeks.
"Unfortunately present successful Sydney it looks similar we're going to person to spell with a antithetic approach. I anticipation radical recognize that we've been trying to mitigate the interaction with these abbreviated surges, but unluckily we've been outrun a spot successful Sydney."
The MCG was named arsenic an vulnerability tract aft a affirmative lawsuit attended the Carlton-Geelong lucifer connected Saturday connected level 2 of the MCC members' reserve, but McLachlan said determination was nary denotation that immoderate nine officials, players unit oregon household members were exposed.
Despite Victoria announcing 8 caller cases of COVID-19 connected Wednesday, McLachlan said helium did not cognize whether assemblage numbers astatine this weekend's fixtures would beryllium altered.
"I don't person immoderate updates of immoderate different changes successful Victoria this weekend, whether it's successful crowds oregon games oregon others, the authorities is intelligibly moving done it," helium said.
"They are watching but we person nary proposal of immoderate planned changes but arsenic we cognize things alteration connected a day-to-day ground oregon an hourly basis.
"We're going to the shot this play arsenic it stands today. We'll woody with immoderate changes come. That's what we've been doing for 18 months. Change and challenges proceed to come."
Players from each Victorian-based clubs volition beryllium tested arsenic "an abundance of caution" aft the announcement of Wednesday's caller cases, with the league to besides reappraisal protocols connected its players.
McLachlan stressed that cases successful each authorities were a interest to the AFL, adding that having crowds astatine fixtures remained a priority.
"I americium disquieted astir each lawsuit that comes up successful each authorities successful the state each of the time," helium said.
"The crowds, if we tin get radical to spell to the football, is intelligibly the priority, but I'm accepting the situation is changing and that there's going to beryllium challenges done to the extremity of the year.
"We've had 4 rounds this play successful the men's and I deliberation 4 successful the women's play that weren't impacted by COVID this year. We are a mass-gathering, weekly, multiple-state, cross-border business."
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