By Abbey Cannan
Sunshine Coast Council has responded to criticism after there was a lack of social distancing in the crowd at last Sunday’s Storm game.A Sunshine Coast Council spokesperson said Queensland Health issued Sunshine Coast Stadium an approved COVID Safe plan for Melbourne Storm fixtures held at Sunshine Coast Stadium.
The approved Queensland Health plan allowed for 6000 people to attend Sunday afternoon’s event (2 August) at the Stadium – less than half the venue-certified capacity.
The crowd attendance was officially 5437.
“While the COVID Safe plan in place for the NRL match played on 17 July complied with requirements of the COVID Safe plan for the venue, in light of the developing situation, the Stadium made significant changes to the Melbourne Storm v Newcastle Knights game including event logistics and increased security, volunteers, police and staff,” a spokesperson said.
“We do however acknowledge that there remains some issues with allowances for social distancing.
“As a precautionary measure, in consultation with Qld Heath and NRL, the crowd numbers have been lowered and no further tickets will be put on sale for the Melbourne Storm v Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs match on 8 August with the crowd capacity reduced to approximately 5,000 people who have already purchased tickets to the game.”
Any future Melbourne Storm “home” games would need to be negotiated with the Storm, NRL and Queensland Health.
