The AFL wishes to advise of an update regarding Round 11 of the 2021 Toyota AFL Premiership Season as the current Covid situation in Victoria continues to evolve and the impending seven-day statewide lockdown beginning at 11:59pm AEST tonight.
As per the directive of the Victorian State Government and in the best interest of the health and safety of the community, all matches in Victoria in Round 11 will be played in front of no crowds.
At this stage the Marvel Stadium Roof will be open for the top of the table clash between the Western Bulldogs and Melbourne on Friday night, with further clarity to be provided in next 24 hours.
As previously communicated by the Melbourne Football Club, the Club had a player visit a Tier 1 exposure site on Sunday.
Melbourne players and football department staff have today undergone Covid testing and will isolate until they receive a negative result.
Pending negative test results the players and staff will be cleared in time for tomorrow night's match against the Bulldogs.
Time and Location change to matches
The Gold Coast SUNS vs Hawthorn match scheduled for TIO Stadium in Darwin has been moved to the SCG. The timeslot, Saturday May 29 at 7:40pm AEST will remain.
This match has been moved due to quarantine requirements imposed by the NT Government.
Richmond vs Adelaide Crows will be moved from the MCG on Sunday May 30 to GIANTS Stadium, commencing at 2:10pm AEST.
This match has been moved due to South Australian border requirements, that wouldn’t have allowed the Adelaide Crows to return to South Australia from Victoria without a 14-day quarantine.
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Both the Gold Coast SUNS vs Hawthorn match and the Richmond vs Adelaide Crows match will be ticketed, with on-sale information to be confirmed in due course.
The Port Adelaide vs Fremantle match on Sunday May 30 at Adelaide Oval will now begin at 5:20pm AEST, previously 4:40pm AEST, to enable umpires to attend the match having umpired in Perth the night before.
All other matches will remain as scheduled.
The AFL’s first priority is the safety and wellbeing of everyone in the community, and the league will continue to make the relevant changes to ensure that remains the priority.
AFL Chief Executive Gillon McLachlan addressed the changes today:
"2021 really is the second season of Covid, and we have continued to operate with the same mindset as 2020," Mr McLachlan said.
"Our team is well prepared and well organised. Our clubs and our players are continuing to be open-minded and agile, and importantly we continue to anchor all our decision making off the advice of the government and health officials.
"The changes this week have been necessary to best deal with the evolving situation in Victoria and we thank the Victorian State Government for allowing us to proceed with matches minus crowds this weekend.
"As quickly as the landscape changes in the wider community, we are buoyed by the fact that our league and our competition have successfully worked through similar situations before, both last year and on multiple occasions this year.
"The changes are in place for this round only and the AFL will continue to monitor the situation over the coming days before making any decisions on future rounds.
"Even though it is not rolling out as we planned, this weekend's Sir Doug Nicholls Round is an important recognition and we look forward to celebrating the brilliance of all Indigenous players, past and present over the next two weekends.
"It is disappointing for fans in Victoria to not be able to attend the footy this weekend, but the events of the last 24 hours reiterate the reasons why we have put in place the contact tracing requirements at matches – all to best keep fans and the community as safe as possible as we continue to navigate through the pandemic.
"Our thoughts are with all Victorians as in what we know is a difficult period for many in the community."