MOAMA Echuca Border Raiders have announced all activities relating to the club have been suspended until next month due to the outbreak of the coronavirus.
The club announced their decision on Wednesday morning after Football Federation Australia (FFA) advised all grassroots programs to be suspended.
“In accordance with FFA's below circular in response to the COVID-19 virus, all Border Raiders’ soccer activities (including trainings) will be suspended until April 14,” the club said in a Facebook post.
“We understand that this is disappointing for many of our members and players but we must follow the advice of our governing body and consider the health of our community, members and players.
“The landscape will no doubt change between now and April 14 so we encourage all our members, players and other stakeholders to stay in touch with the club and the committee over the coming weeks.“Should you have any questions in relation to the above, please don't hesitate to email borderraidersinfo@gmail.com or message the Facebook page.”FFA chief executive James Johnson said he could understand the disappointment surrounding the decision.“Our decision follows extensive discussions with all of Australia’s nine State and Territory Member Federations, taking into consideration the latest feedback from all levels of the football community,” Johnson said.“It is very regrettable that grassroots football will not proceed for the next month, but as a good and responsible citizen, we recognise that our game of approximately 1.96 million participants, has a significant role to play in slowing the spread of the virus.“More Australians play grassroots football than any other team sport in the country and we have been able to listen to the voice of our community, through the establishment of the National COVID-19 Working Committee and our Guidelines, who have expressed a desire to contribute more to the nation at this time through a unified and Whole of Game response.“As a game we need to be responsive and agile in how we deal with this situation, and we are working together around the clock to deal with this challenge. We will continue to assess our position regularly to ensure that it is reflective of the most accurate state of affairs and views of the game.”