Mandatory player tests part of AFL restart plans

With states beginning to ease coronavirus restrictions step by step, the AFL is set to reveal its plans for resuming the 2020 season.

In Victoria, where ten of the league’s eighteen clubs are based, the state government’s lifting of some social distancing measures actually allow for matches to be played from this week in stringent conditions.

But after the extended suspension of the game, Australian Rules football’s governing body says games won’t resume just yet.

It says clubs need the all-clear for a three week “pre-season”, including the testing of every player for COVID-19 by Friday, in the hope training can resume next Monday.

AFL.com reports the clubs have also been warned against breaching new protocols around expenditure, as the league fights to keep all eighteen teams afloat.