Boxing Day A-League match to be played behind closed doors

As a COVID-19 precaution, this weekend's December 26 A-League Men's Boxing Day match between Newcastle Jets and Western Sydney Wanderers will be taking place behind closed doors.

Newcastle Jets have confirmed that their upcoming A-League Round 6 home match against Western Sydney Wanderers will be held behind closed doors. It is still scheduled to be hosted at McDonald Jones Stadium but with no fans permitted to attend.

The move was made as a precautionary measure after the dramatic increasing COVID-19 cases in the Newcastle and the Hunter region. New South Wales Health declared a red alert on Thursday, December 16 after area hospital critical care services became "stretched."

The emergence of the Omicron variant has been the new source of recent outbreaks in the areas. The club stated the safety of fans, members, players and staff as its first priority and the reason for the fixture status change.

Newcastle Jets had already suffered a COVID-19 outbreak last week within both their men's and women's squads, with the original sources of the infections coming from different sources. The three players were isolated at home.

Speaking of the decision making process with regards to the move to behind closed doors, Newcastle Jets Executive Chairman Shane Mattiske stated:

“As a part of this community, the Jets have a responsibility to play our role in helping to decrease the spread of this recent COVID-19 outbreak.

“We know that many families and organisations in our community have already been affected by this recent outbreak, as have the Jets, and it is clear that we need to consider the appropriateness of staging a mass event at this time in the Newcastle regionoutbreak.

"In consultation with the APL, it has confirmed that the game should move to be played behind closed doors.

“Having already experienced multiple COVID cases throughout our playing squads, we have already experienced first-hand how quickly this variant can spread and we want to do our best to minimise the risk of Covid transmission amongst our fans and Members.

“We will continue to monitor the situation as it unfolds.”

The club has informed fans who have already purchased tickets that they will be given a full refund. Newcastle are currently sixth in the A-League Men's ladder, with one win, two draws and two loses this season.