‘It’s a risk’: Health chief lukewarm on AFL idea ahead of Gil meeting

Victoria’s Chief Health Officer has expressed a lukewarm opinion of AFL hubs ahead of a meeting with competition boss Gil McLachlan to discuss the future of the 2020 season.

While the football industry speculates wildly about when and how the season resumes, the man who will ultimately have the biggest say revealed to Neil Mitchell he was due to discuss the matter with McLachlan today.

“I’ve got to call him back! I’ve got a voicemail from him,” Dr Brett Sutton said on 3AW Mornings.

“We’ll have a conversation about (recommencing the season) today.

“I think training is one thing but a national competition needs borders open between states and territories where people aren’t quarantined when they move across.

“It’s early days so I think we need to consider how they might maintain their professional skills, but competition is another question.”

Neil Mitchell said the idea of isolation hubs concerned him because of the potential of an outbreak.

Dr Sutton agreed “it is a risk”.

“People who have any symptoms need to be excluded from those groups, and they need to be really careful about how close they are when they do come together.

“I think it’s OK to be coming together as a hub but that physical distancing needs to happen.

“And maybe the number of interactions between individuals needs to be minimised so that if someone does become unwell and gets confirmed as having coronavirus, then it’s only three or four people who need to be quarantined and not 30 or 40.”

Click PLAY to hear Dr Sutton’s comments on footy

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