AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan is confident the league would find a way to navigate a doomsday scenario of COVID-19 cases appearing in Perth on the eve of the grand final.
All tickets have been sold for the September 25 blockbuster between Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs at the 61,266-capacity Optus Stadium.
Western Australia currently has zero community cases of COVID-19, but the WA government has a history of calling snap lockdowns if cases appear.
It remains unclear what the AFL would do if a snap lockdown was called in the days leading up to the decider.
One option would be to wait a week in the hope that the virus didn’t spread and that the grand final can proceed as normal.
The other option could be to shift the match to Adelaide.
McLachlan didn’t want to go into detail about Plan B, but he says the league would be able to come up with a solution.
“I’ve got great confidence in this WA Government and police and health department,” McLachlan said.
“I’m absolutely, unconditionally looking forward to the grand final here.
“If something happened – we’ve been dealing with this for two years, and we would be able to find a way of dealing with it.
“That’s all I’ll say, other than I just can’t wait for this grand final. The tickets are sold, it will be amazing.
“If for some reason things changed, we’d deal with it. It wouldn’t be ideal. It’s not something we’re contemplating or think is going to happen.”
The AFL have gone to extreme lengths to minimise the risk of COVID-19 affecting the grand final.
The traditional grand final parade has been scrapped. Instead, fans will be able to attend a ticketed open training session at Optus Stadium on the Friday before the grand final.
For Sunday’s Brownlow medal night at Optus Stadium, there will be three rooms in action.
One will house the Melbourne Demons, one will house the Western Bulldogs, and the third will be the main room where AFL players from other clubs and guests will be sitting.
McLachlan said the AFL had made it through the past two seasons by “playing the percentages” in terms of risks, and they aren’t about to stop now.
“It’s the way we are wired now,” McLachlan said.
“Our players and our clubs, and my team, have lived in protocols well beyond what the community has been doing in every state for two years. So it’s second nature.
“And for those who are a bit bemused by it, all I’d say is that discipline is part of the reason why we’re here.
“There’s a buy-in from everyone, and we’re going to do everything we can do make sure we get the grand final done.”
McLachlan said the league is yet to formulate a stance on vaccine passports, with a decision to be made about a week after the grand final.
AAP
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