IN the wake of the ongoing and increasing outbreak in Europe, Hockey Australia has taken the unfortunate but necessary decision to suspend all international travel for its national teams, including the Kookaburras and Hockeyroos - which features Mollymook's Kalindi Commerford and Gerringong's Grace Stewart.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Hockey Australia have made the determination after regular consultation 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," Hockey Australia CEO Matt Favier said.
"We have been tracking the progression of the virus in Europe with the hope it could be contained.
"Unfortunately, the increase in the number of cases and the spread of the countries now impacted has led us to this decision."
Related content: Pair's Hockyeroos suffer second straight loss to Argentina
This comes after the FIH postponed the Hockeyroos' matches in China next weekend, while the Azlan Shah tournament in Malaysia the Kookaburras were scheduled to play in has been postponed until November due to the threat of the Coronavirus.
The Kookaburras were scheduled to fly out to Europe on Sunday followed days later by the Hockeyroos for their European matches of the FIH Hockey Pro League.
"As is our usual practise, Hockey Australia places the safety and wellbeing of our athletes and staff as our number one priority," Hockey Australia head of high performance Toni Cumpston said.
"This decision has not been taken lightly, however we believe that at this point in 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.
Related content: Commerford's green and gold milestone
"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.
"Our view is that even with taking every precaution around travel hygiene, we would be heading into areas of known risk, which is just not sensible when we also have an Olympic campaign to navigate."
While disappointed with Hockey Australia's decision, the International Hockey Federation can appreciate why they did it.
"Hockey Australia has informed us about its decision and while it is disappointing, we do understand the reasons for it," FIH CEO Thierry Weil said.
"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."
