Coronavirus: New Zealand football announce raft of cancellations and postponements

New Zealand Football have announced the rest of the men's national league will be cancelled and the side currently leading the league will be crowned champions.

The organisation cited the Covid-19 epidemic and the safety concerns surrounding it as the cause of the cancellation, meaning Auckland City FC become the 2019/20 league winners.

Club Chairman Ivan Vukisch said in a statement that, while he is disappointed with the abrupt ending to the season, the action take by NZ Football is understandable.

"Nobody wanted to see the football season end this way with just 13 games left to play, but given the realities presented by Covid-19, and following Government recommendations and those of New Zealand Football, we feel this is the right decision.

"We've been awarded the ISPS Handa Premiership title but it doesn't feel like we've won it in some ways because there were at least four matches left before the end of the campaign and anything could've happened.

"Team Wellington weren't far behind and Waitakere United, Eastern Suburbs AFC, Tasman United, Hamilton Wanderers and Southern United were all chasing hard for a playoff spot or better.

"Nevertheless, we remain very proud of the way our players and coaching staff, led by Jose Figueira, went about their season with the utmost diligence."

Team Wellington, currently in second place, will join Auckland City as the two qualifiers for the OFC Champions League.

"The decision consulted national league clubs, and considered government and New Zealand Football expert medical advice around non-essential travel and mass gatherings," a statement read.

NEWS 📰 | Due to safety concerns, the @ISPSHanda Premiership season has been concluded with @AucklandCity_FC declared as champions

Read more 👉 https://t.co/lpxnZJgnDb#ISPSHandaPrem #WhoYouGot @PhotosportNZ pic.twitter.com/N3ZzdIwuGq

— New Zealand Football 🇳🇿 (@NZ_Football) March 18, 2020

Meanwhile, it was announced earlier today that the start of the community football season has been postponed until May 2.

"This difficult decision has been reached by NZ Football in agreement with the seven Federations, to help prevent community spread of COVID-19," a statement said.

It means community football, including junior, youth, senior, social and regional competitions are postponed until May 2 along with community futsal.

The 2020 Secondary Schools Futsal Championships set for late March has been cancelled.

Tertiary Futsal championships are postponed until a date to be confirmed, and all other competitions are being reviewed.

Photosport

Workshops and courses including coaching and refereeing courses have also been postponed until May 2.

The statement said all training should be suspended until April 18, or two weeks prior to the start of the season.

Recommendations around safe practice will be continually updated, aligning with Ministry of Health guidelines.

Yesterday, Netball New Zealand postponed all winter competitions, while New Zealand Rugby postponed all club and community rugby.

Earlier today New Zealand Cricket made the decision to cancel community cricket, including clubs, schools, programmes and training, for the rest of the season.