Premier Peter Gutwein has confirmed he has advised the AFL that the league and its clubs won't be getting any special treatment while the state's strong border control measures are in place.
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Gutwein on Sunday said he had written to AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan telling him AFL teams, including Hawthorn and North Melbourne who have contracts with the state government to play eight games in the state each year, would not be given any exemptions when flying into the state, meaning players would not be able to bypass 14 days of quarantine put in place to protect Tasmanians from coronavirus.
However, Gutwein admitted the situation in Tasmania was one that could change as the AFL's condensed season got older, opening up the opportunity that the Hawks and Kangaroos could feature in the state at some point in 2020.
"I did also indicate in that letter to Mr McLachlan that we would keep this under review and as we move through the different stages and depending on where we get to and what the roster looks like over the course of the year there may be an opportunity later in the year for football to come back to Tasmania,'' he said.
"But as I have made perfectly clear from day one we won't do anything that will put at risk the health of Tasmanians and the fly in, fly out model currently does not work with our border controls."
Gutwein also said it was too early to be talking about any potential refund of the two clubs' contracts for this season, be that a full or partial refund.
The state government pays around $8 million to bring eight AFL fixtures a year to UTAS Stadium and Bellerive Oval.
"The key thing there is to see how the season progresses and what occurs with our border controls,'' Gutwein said.
"At this stage if our border controls were to remain in place as they are at the moment, then they would not be able to play a game in Tasmania this year.
"But both the contracts are obviously linked to them playing games here, so until we get a little further through this we won't know exactly what the circumstance will be in terms of those contractual payments."
He said he had spoken to both clubs last week and would "continue to do so on an ongoing basis".
Gutwein's comments came after Hawthorn president Jeff Kennett on Saturday conceded that playing games in the state at least in the first part of the season would be tough.
"There's no brinkmanship, we just have to accept whatever the political leaders of every state have said and what they are doing in the same way that the AFL has had to adjust to what the premiers of South Australia and Western Australia are doing and saying,'' he said on Fox Footy Live.
Upon announcing its return to train and return to play measures on Friday, the AFL confirmed it would be releasing its 2020 fixture in blocks of 4-6 matches, and the league hoped to play games in "most states and territories".
Meanwhile, following the Symmons Plains Supercars round for 2020 being scheduled for November in the series' revised calendar on Sunday, Gutwein said that there would be several factors in play before deciding whether it could in fact be held in the state, and if it was whether crowds would be allowed in.
"It will depend on the public health advice that we are receiving and importantly whether or not our border controls have been removed or reduced at that time,'' he said.
The event, which was originally meant to be held over three days in early April, has been set for November 21 and 22.