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he AFL has announced the relocation of all 18 clubs to Victoria due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic across New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia, and South Australia.

Heading into round 16, the league announced both the Adelaide Crows and Port Adelaide will travel to Victoria this afternoon via a charter flight after making the initial decision for the Brisbane Lions, Fremantle, Gold Coast SUNS, and the West Coast Eagles to travel to Victoria on Tuesday.

Speaking about the latest move, AFL executive general manager of clubs and broadcasting, Travis Auld, said the league will continue to closely monitor the evolving COVID-19 situation across the country and make decisions accordingly.

“Bringing the two South Australian teams to Victoria today minimises risk for the competition as we progress the season in a constantly changing environment,” Auld said.

“As of this evening we will have all 18 teams in Victoria and, as a competition, we will continue to remain adaptable where required.

“The two teams travelling today will fly to Victoria via a charter flight and will remain in the state ahead of this round’s matches.

“While COVID-19 continues to impact the community, we will work closely with state governments, health officials, our clubs and players to ensure the best possible outcome for everyone in the game,” he said.

The move to Victoria for all 18 AFL clubs is vastly different to the 2020 season which saw all teams moved to Queensland due to the COVID-19 pandemic shutting down borders to Victoria.