Australia bars hockey teams from traveling abroad

ISLAMBAD: In the wake of ongoing and increasing outbreak of coronavirus in Europe, Hockey Australia has decided to suspend all international travel for its national teams, including the Hockeyroos and Kookaburras, until further notice.

Hockey Australia has made the determination after regular consultations with the chief medical officer of the Australian Institute of Sport, and after monitoring the latest updates from the World Health Organisation and Australian government.

“We have engaged extensively to seek the best and most recent advice on the Covid-19 virus to inform our recommendation not to travel,” said Hockey Australia CEO Matt Favier. “We have been tracking the progression of the virus in Europe with the hope it could be contained. Unfortunately, increase in the number of cases and spread of the countries now the impact has led us to this decision.”

This comes after the FIH postponed the Hockeyroos’ matches in China next weekend, while the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Malaysia, the Kookaburras were scheduled to play in, has been postponed until November due to threat of the virus.

The Kookaburras were scheduled to fly out to Europe on Monday followed days later by the Hockeyroos for their European matches of the FIH Pro League. “As is our usual practice, Hockey Australia places the safety and wellbeing of our athletes and staff is our top priority,” said Hockey Australia Head of High Performance, Toni Cumpston.

“This decision has not been taken lightly, however we believe that at this point of time, it is the right and only one we can make to ensure the health and safety of our athletes and staff, and provide our programs with the least amount of risk in terms of impacting their Olympic preparation.”

“While we are disappointed to miss the European leg of our 2020 FIH Pro League campaign which involved vital matches for our preparation for the Olympics, we have already begun reviewing our plans to ensure we have the best possible preparation for Tokyo 2020.”

FIH CEO Thierry Weil said: “Hockey Australia has informed us about its decision and while it is disappointing, we do understand the reasons for it. The upcoming FIH Hockey Pro League matches of Australia in Europe have been put on hold. We will continue to work closely with all parties to try to play these matches at a later stage, if possible.”