R91 Sports and Recreation Activities

Tennis year unworkable if quarantine remains, says Djokovic

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Original article by Greg Baum
The Age – Page: Online : 17-Feb-21

Novak Djokovic says there is a growing view among players that the 2021 tennis season will be unviable if they have to quarantine for 14 days before each tournament. The world number one-ranked men’s player has raised the possibility of staging the rest of the year’s major tournaments in a single location, and contends that the issue must be addressed quickly given that the season has begun. Djokovic adds that players had accepted the Australian Open quarantine measures as it is a grand slam, but notes that many ATP tournaments in 2021 will have reduced prizemoney.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN OPEN TENNIS, ATP TOUR

Fans dunked as NBL postpones season opener on virus outbreaks

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Original article by Jessica Gardner
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 7-Jan-21

The first game of the 2021 National Basketball League was due to be played in regional Victoria on 10 January between the NBL’s two Melbourne teams. However, the recent COVID-19 outbreaks in Sydney and Melbourne has seen that game postponed, and the first game will now be held on 15 January between the Cairns Taipans and the Hawks in Cairns. The first two rounds of the season will be restricted to virus-free locations, while the postponed Melbourne derby has been tentatively scheduled for Bendigo on 31 January.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL BASKETBALL LEAGUE

Reduced capacity an income bouncer

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Original article by Glenda Korporaal
The Australian – Page: 13 & 16 : 7-Jan-21

Venues New South Wales chairman Tony Shepherd says the Sydney Cricket Ground will lose money on the third Test as a result of the reduced capacity of 12,000. Shepherd, who is a former president of the Business Council of Australia, notes the SCG only gets money from the sale of tickets and food and beverage, but that it respects the decision of the NSW government and health authorities regarding reduced crowd numbers. Shepherd says it is very important that sport continues at the present time, as he says it is what keeps people healthy and "holds this country together"

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VENUES NSW

Victoria restrictions could delay Grand Prix

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Original article by Tessa Akerman
The Australian – Page: Online : 6-Jan-21

Police minister Lisa Neville says the Victorian government is having ongoing discussions about the timing and staging of the Melbourne Grand Prix with Australian Grand Prix Corporation and Formula 1. The race is normally held in late March, but may be rescheduled because of the state’s COVID-19 restrictions. Meanwhile, a new quarantine hotel for international tennis players coming to the Australian Open has had to be secured, after some of the penthouse owners at the Westin Melbourne, which had been due to host the players, threatened Supreme Court action over COVID-19 concerns.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX CORPORATION

Fans face health bans, refunds

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Original article by Finbar O’Mallon
The Australian Financial Review – Page: Online : 5-Jan-21

Crowd numbers for the third Test at the SCG have been capped at 25 per cent of capacity as the SCG Trust responds to Sydney’s current COVID-19 outbreak. Current ticket holders for the game will be refunded and given the chance to repurchase tickets, while food and beverage outlets are being increased to prevent crowding. Residents of the northern zone of the northern beaches will be barred from attending, as well as anyone who has visited COVID-19-affected venues. The SCG Trust hopes to lift crowd limits if Sydney’s COVID-19 numbers improve before the Test starts on 7 January.

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SYDNEY CRICKET GROUND TRUST

AFL modelling the ‘worst case scenario’, a second season played in interstate bubbles

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Original article by Michael Warner, Glenn McFarlane
The Australian – Page: 24 : 30-Oct-20

The Australian Football League is expected to release details of the length of the 2021 season and the length of quarters in early December. Western Bulldogs president Peter Gordon has confirmed the AFL’s modelling for 2021 includes the possibility of using hubs again in the event of another outbreak of COVID-19, while Hawthorn president Jeff Kennett says he is hopeful that AFL crowds in Victoria will get back to 50 per cent capacity in 2021. Gordon says colder weather seems to make the virus harder to control, so a winter sport such as the AFL should not get complacent.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, WESTERN BULLDOGS FOOTBALL CLUB, HAWTHORN FOOTBALL CLUB

MCG set for Boxing Day miracle

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Original article by Ben Horne
The Australian – Page: 22 : 8-Sep-20

Cricket Australia is set to provisionally announce that the MCG will host the traditional Boxing Day Test match in 2020, subject to coronavirus restrictions. The Adelaide Oval will be designated the back-up venue if the MCG has to be ruled out. The rate of community transmission of COVID-19 will determine if the MCG hosts the second Test of the four-match series against India, with a final decision likely to be made in November. The MCG is expected to have a reduced crowd capacity of between 20,000 and 30,000 per day for the match, with social distancing rules to be enforced.

CORPORATES
CRICKET AUSTRALIA, MELBOURNE CRICKET GROUND, ADELAIDE OVAL

Coronavirus restrictions force ski resorts to shut

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Original article by Lisa Allen
The Australian – Page: 15 : 10-Jul-20

Vail Resorts will suspend its ski lifting operations at the Victorian resorts of Falls Creek and Mt Hotham until at least 19 August in response to the state’s new COVID-19 restrictions. Vail Resorts’ third Australian ski resort, Perisher in New South Wales, will remain open. Meanwhile, the Mt Buller ski resort’s website indicates that it is reviewing Victoria’s stage-three lockdown restrictions, but it will continue to operate until at least 12 July. However, it will not accept bookings from residents of metropolitan Melbourne or the Mitchell Shire.

CORPORATES
VAIL RESORTS INCORPORATED, FALLS CREEK ALPINE RESORT, MOUNT HOTHAM SKIING COMPANY PTY LTD, MT BULLER SKI LIFT LIMITED

AFL cuts season, opener in doubt

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Original article by John Ferguson, Tessa Akerman
The Australian – Page: 3 : 17-Mar-20

The Australian Football League has responded to the coronavirus crisis by reducing the 2020 home-and-away season from 22 rounds to just 17. The AFL has yet to decide whether to cancel round one or stage matches in empty stadiums. Delaying the start of the season until late May is also an option. CEO Gillon McLachlan has stressed that protecting the community is the league’s top priority. Reports have suggested that AFL players may be asked to take pay cuts of up to 20 per cent.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE

ATP Tour shuts down for six weeks because of outbreak

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Original article by Russell Fuller
bbc.com – Page: Online : 13-Mar-20

The ATP has cancelled all tournaments on the men’s ATP Tour and ATP Challenger Tour until 27 April, due to growing concerns about the impact of the coronavirus outbreak. ATP chairman Andrea Gaudenzi says the decision was not an easy one, but it believed it was in the best interest of players, staff and the broader tennis community. The ATP says the impact of the cancellation of matches on world rankings will be considered carefully, while the Women’s Tennis Association has not yet announced its stance on upcoming tournaments.

CORPORATES
ATP TOUR WOMEN’S TENNIS ASSOCIATION