The A-League will look to postpone a number of games as the Sydney Covid-19 outbreak wreaks havoc with the tournament’s start date next week.
The season was set to kick off on Sunday with a blockbuster clash between the Western Sydney Wanderers and league newcomers Macarthur FC at Bankwest Stadium, but will likely be postponed amid the outbreak.
Football Federation Australia’s head of leagues Greg O’Rourke said games impacted by border closures would likely be postponed until a later date.
“We have 218 games to play in the next 6 months and our plan is to deliver all of those games,” he said.
“The learnings and the collaborative dynamics created from the delivery of the 2019/20 season are invaluable to us and on behalf of the thousands of people involved in delivering the last season, I can tell you that we are determined to deliver a great showcase of Australian football once again, both on and off the field.”
Sydney FC were set to begin their campaign against Melbourne City in a grand final replay at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium on December 30, before trips to face Brisbane Roar on January 10 and Melbourne Victory on January 26.
Those fixtures are under a cloud after Queensland and Victorian shut their borders to travellers from Greater Sydney. Victorian Premier Dan Andrews also announced the state would close to anyone from the NSW Central Coast.
The Sky Blues on Saturday made the call to have players Calem Nieuwenhof, Harry Van der Saag, Patrick Wood, Levi Kaye and head coach Steve Corica, who all live in the northern beaches, remain in city hotels after returning from Qatar, where they completed their AFC Champions League fixtures, earlier this month.
The rest of the squad has completed their 14-day isolation stint and were able to return home.
“We are closely tracking and reviewing Government guidance, and building our plans to ensure that we have the flexibility to respond dynamically to any guidance changes,” O’Rourke said.
“The safety, health and wellbeing of our players, fans and staff is our ultimate priority.”
