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Coronavirus: Travel restrictions won't force NRL & A-League to stop – Australian PM
Written by Sports Desk. Posted in CoronaVirus Watch. | 22 March 2020 | 479 Views
Tags: Football, Nrl, Rugby League, Aleague

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison does not believe a new travel ban will force the NRL and A-League seasons to end amid the coronavirus pandemic.

While COVID-19 disrupts sport across the globe, Australia's professional rugby league and football competitions have continued, albeit behind closed doors.

However, Australia's announcement against non-essential travel has thrown the NRL and A-League into fresh doubt, with Victoria and New South Wales reportedly among states set to close their borders within 48 hours.

Morrison, though, told a news conference on Sunday: "I would say not. It's not the end of sport.

"We will work closely with them about those arrangements. In terms of the NRL and the AFL [Australian Football League] and those types of arrangements, I think the principle is important.

"I'm sure we can work with both of those agencies with their respective states and CMOs [chief medical officers] at a federal level.

"If there are new arrangements that need to be put in place to protect the health and safety of everyone they may be possible but I'm not going to pre-empt those outcomes, but I'm sure we can work those issues through on a practical case by case basis."

In response to Morrison's announcement, Australian Rugby League Commission (ARLC) chairman Peter V'landys told Triple M: "We are prepared for the worst, and we have looked at every contingency. We're ready for whatever they throw at us.

"We've got a four-week window that we can work with during State of Origin. There is a bye round and a [split] round, and we can always extend the season. It just really depends when we have to pull the lever to suspend the season. The longer we can go the better it is."

Globally, more than 13,000 people have died from at least 308,000 cases.

In Australia, there have been over 1,200 cases and at least seven deaths.