The front rows at Adelaide Oval will be left empty for Saturday’s AFL clash in quarantine, while fans have been urged to sanitise their hands if they choose not to duck the football.
The Crows will host Collingwood after the Pies were granted an exemption to fly into South Australia during Victoria’s COVID-19 lockdown.
With only minor concerns surrounding the risks SA’s top health official Nicola Spurrier’s advice to “duck and do not touch the ball” raised eyebrows on Wednesday.
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She said on Thursday she simply wants fans to sanitise their hands before diving back into their chips.
“Just to reiterate I am not a football player and in fact whenever a ball comes to me - whatever sort of ball, whether it’s a football, a basketball - my inclination is to duck,” Spurrier joked.
“I’ve had a bit of an update from some more football knowledgeable people in my department today to tell me that there’s about 50 per cent of people that really try madly to get the ball and there’s 50 per cent of people that are like me and just duck.
“To be perfectly honest though whenever you touch an object and in this case this is an object touched by - I don’t know how many - very sweaty men on a football field.
“Sanitise your hands afterwards, and that’s advice I would give pre or post-COVID.
“I’m perfectly comfortable with the ball, just take that tongue in cheek. I did hear that a song has been made about duck to the ball, and I’ll just add that to my collection.”
Spurrier said she personally requested that Adelaide Oval and AFL officials work together to clear out the first two rows to create additional distance between players and fans.
“That was a little bit of an ask for the AFL but they’ve managed to accommodate that,” she told reporters
But the chief medical officer urged South Australians not to worry about the Victorian-based Magpies.
Spurrier said the benefits of letting the game go ahead - thereby not ruining fans’ weekend plans - outweigh the minor risk.
“These players do not have COVID. They have come from Victoria where there has been an outbreak, the outbreak has really good signs that it is getting under control,” she said.
“These players will have a COVID test hours before playing, so we know they are negative. Obviously if someone tests positive the game would be cancelled.”
After hosting Collingwood the Crows are due to play St Kilda in Melbourne on June 12 but the AFL will wait until next week before confirming the round 13 fixture.
- with AAP
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