The AFL expansive final is headed to Perth unless the Victorian authorities tin marque immoderate guarantees by aboriginal adjacent week, Gillon McLachlan has confirmed.
The AFL main enforcement confirmed astatine a media league this day that Perth had won the conflict against Adelaide to instrumentality the expansive last interstate owed to the bigger assemblage capableness of Optus Stadium.
McLachlan added that it was inactive the AFL's penchant to signifier the expansive last astatine the MCG but said that was successful the hands of the Victorian government, with the state's COVID-19 outbreak making that result progressively unlikely.
The AFL brag said a telephone was yet to beryllium made connected whether the expansive last would beryllium staged successful the accepted daytime slot, twilight oregon astatine night, but hinted it was apt to person a aboriginal commencement owed to the time-zone situation of playing the crippled successful Western Australia.
"Our precedence intelligibly volition beryllium the wellness and information of the West Australian community. We'll enactment done the quarantine facilities and restrictions for our playing groups and it volition beryllium an astonishing venue successful the lawsuit the MCG is unavailable," McLachlan said.
The benefits of Optus Stadium's greater assemblage capableness than that of Adelaide Oval are a much electrical ambiance and higher revenue, which is peculiarly important fixed the fiscal toll the COVID-19 pandemic has had connected the game.
"They've some got their merits but the capableness disposable astatine Optus Stadium is 100 per cent and that's beauteous compelling, to person arsenic galore radical arsenic we tin spot the biggest and champion sporting lawsuit successful the country," McLachlan said.
With some Victoria and NSW inactive being heavy impacted by lockdowns and the AFL committed to hosting the finals bid successful beforehand of crowds, the archetypal play of the finals volition beryllium played successful Adelaide and Tasmania.
McLachlan told 3AW past week that the AFL was "unapologetic" successful its stance that the expansive last indispensable beryllium played successful beforehand of a crowd.
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