North Melbourne CEO Ben Amarfio has provided an important update for the club's members and supporters. 

As you are no doubt aware, the coronavirus situation is changing rapidly, with the sporting landscape experiencing unprecedented challenges.

I trust that you and your loved ones are safe and well and you are taking the necessary precautions to protect yourselves.

This evening, the AFL advised us the season will go ahead, but fans would not be permitted to attend games for the “foreseeable future”.

This is obviously an incredibly disappointing development, as we exist for our supporters and partners and share all the ups and down with you. However, we understand that this decision has been taken out of the AFL’s hands given the directive from Government earlier today. 

We will continue to work closely with the AFL in the coming days and weeks in an effort to minimise the impact on you all.

We know it is a challenging time for everyone but our main priority is the health and wellbeing of all our players, staff, members and fans.

We ask for your cooperation, understanding and continued loyalty as we navigate through this. Our club is going to be hit hard by this but we have an exceptional group of talented people at North Melbourne. We are up for the challenge and together we will no doubt get through this.

I am very pleased to report that we have not had any players or staff test positive to the virus. However, we are staying vigilant in order to ensure we mitigate the risks and manage the chances of transmission. We have met with all our players and educated them on the potential risks and how best to conduct themselves away from the club in order to minimise contracting the virus.

We are planning and operating on advice from the government, health agencies and the AFL. As a precaution, our training and administration base at Arden St will only be accessible to the players and essential staff. Furthermore, all training sessions will be closed to the public until further notice.

Our member services are still operational but we are not in a position to offer much more advice or information than what is contained in this letter.

I want to thank our members and fans for their support and understanding. We are in unchartered territory and your co-operation is greatly appreciated as we navigate our way through this scenario.

We will communicate with you again as soon as more information comes to hand but until then, take care.

Regards,
Ben Amarfio