A-League chaos as Melbourne teams fail to beat border closureAn ambulance is seen outside one of nine public housing estates locked down due to a spike in COVID-19 coronavirus numbers in MelbourneSYDNEY - Australia's planned A-League restart next week was thrown into chaos after three Melbourne teams failed to leave Victoria state when their dramatic airport dash to beat a border closure was scuppered by fog. Nine days from the scheduled opening game, the A-League was left seeking a New South Wales government exemption for the teams after the border was shut to contain a worsening COVID-19 crisis in Melbourne. The Melbourne City, Melbourne Victory and Western United players had planned to fly out Tuesday ahead of a midnight border closure, but were forced late Monday night to race to the airport at short notice when the shutdown for Melbourne residents was brought forward by 24 hours. With the NSW border now closed to Melbourne residents, Football Federation of Australia head of leagues Greg O'Rourke said they would seek an exemption for the Melbourne clubs. The NSW government indicated it would be sympathetic to the request with Deputy Premier John Barilaro saying if the opportunity was there "let's bring them across the border."

Source: Bangkok Post July 07, 2020 05:03 UTC