The Adelaide Crows thought it was still 2020 and earned themselves a huge fine and a nomination for The Frownlow Medal after breaching COVID-19 protocols.
The AFL club was fined $50,000 after five players and three staff were not wearing face masks properly on a commercial flight recently. This happened just over a year after the club was heavily fined for…breaching COVID-19 protocols.
The Frownlow Medal is awarded to the player whose off-field demeanour epitomises the values of the modern-day footballer and draws attention to the status of footballers as role models to young Australians. It covers Australia’s four major football codes; the National Rugby League (NRL), Australian Football League (AFL), the A-League (Football) and Rugby Union’s Super Rugby competition. NRL player Shaun Kenny-Dowall won the inaugural medal in 2015, while AFL player Elijah Taylor is the most recent recipient.
The Crows were punished in 2020 after their players did not follow a directive to train in pairs while in quarantine at a Barossa Valley resort. Assistant coach Ben Hart was stood down for six weeks, as a result, while 16 players were handed one-match bans.
2020 saw countless footballers nominated for breaches of coronavirus bio-security protocols, and it seems the Adelaide Crows never learned their lesson. On this occasion, fellow passengers on the flight from Sydney to Adelaide reported the breach to the AFL, and the fine was swiftly imposed.
They say a week is a long time in football, and the Adelaide Crows just proved that a year is an eternity.
Image: NuNa
The Frownlow Medal 