Following a meeting of the league board on Friday, it has opted to postpone all football and netball competitions until May 2.
In a statement released on Sunday, the league addressed the reasoning for postponing the season and said the planned May 2 start-date could be changed again if the COVID-19 epidemic deteriorates further.
“Following a meeting of the PDFNL board on Friday, the decision has been made to postpone all football and netball competitions until the weekend of May 2, 2020,” the statement read.
“The league will continue to correspond with the various authorities and reconvene by April 17 to review and/or confirm this commencement date, subject to the status of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The decision has been made after ongoing consultation with the office of federal and state ministers, Netball Victoria, Netball Australia, AFL, AFLGM, PDFNL clubs and in consideration of the ever-changing Federal Government requirements.”
Many of the PDFNL clubs have notified players on Facebook that training and events are cancelled, as communities continue to deal with the ongoing public health crisis.
“The PDFNL advises all of its clubs to remain aware and vigilant of current federal and state government requirements regarding gatherings,” the league said.
“Providing support to PDFNL members along with the many commercial partners who continue to support the PDFNL community is of high priority, during these unprecedented times.”
— AFL PDFNL (@AFL_PDFNL) pic.twitter.com/UBYPqrM0xoMarch 22, 2020
However, the PDFNL's decision to push the commencement of the season to May 2 is not aligned with the advice from AFL Victoria to suspend all competitions until May 31.
Fellow district leagues, Goulburn Valley, Kyabram District and Murray have all announced their seasons have been postponed to May 31.
● Meanwhile, the GVL and KDL announced last week they would follow the advice from AFL Goulburn Murray and postponed their respective seasons until May 31.
GVL chairman David Roff said the league would follow the recommendations from the AFL, AFLGM, Netball Australia, Federal Government and World Health Organisation.
“Whilst we are disappointed that we will not be able to kick off our football and netball seasons as we had planned, we understand that by following the recommendations . . . we will be doing all we can to ensure the health and safety of everyone within our communities,” he said.
“We can then hopefully get back to playing the games we love, albeit a little later than planned.”
In a statement released on Wednesday, the KDL said its decision took into account the health of its stakeholders and this year's fixture would be altered.
“This decision was made due to the health concerns surrounding COVID-19 and its effect on our players, coaches, volunteers, supporters and the broader community,” the statement read.
"The KDL will continue to explore fixturing alternatives and how the league will operate for the 2020 season."
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