The New Zealand Warriors have finally been granted an exemption to travel to Australia ahead of the NRL season resuming.
The NRL is planning to restart its campaign on May 28 amid the coronavirus pandemic, and the Warriors' arrival had remained a hurdle.
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But that was officially cleared on Saturday, when they were granted an exemption to enter Australia.
"The Minister for Home Affairs today confirmed that the Australian Border Force has considered an application to allow 36 players and staff from the New Zealand Warriors Rugby League team to travel to Australia to participate in the National Rugby League which is their place of work," read a statement tweeted by the minister, Peter Dutton.
"The ABF Commissioner carefully considered this request, including on advice from the Chief Medical Officer of the Commonwealth that the 36 foreign nationals travelling from New Zealand do not pose a risk of serious harm to public health in Australia. This morning (2 May 2020), the ABF Commissioner exempted the 36 foreign nationals from travel restrictions, enabling them to travel to Australia. Separate permissions have been provided to enable a chartered aircraft to land at Tamworth Airport on 3 May 2020.
"The National Rugby League have been advised to liaise with NSW Health and NSW Police to ensure all necessary state health and quarantine requirements are met."
Warriors chief executive Cameron George welcomed the decision, praising Australian Rugby League Commission (ARLC) chairman Peter V'landys for his work.
"As a club we're both relieved and excited that our requests have now been taken care of to our satisfaction," he said in a statement.
Actual breaking news: We've been given the all-clear to fly to Australia tomorrow to prepare for the revamped 2020 #NRL season
— Vodafone Warriors (@NZWarriors) May 2, 2020
READ https://t.co/8HwK3HAQPT pic.twitter.com/C4KxGvEAaz
"We have never wavered in our commitment to be involved in supporting the resumption of the season. We're now ready to go and couldn't be happier about the prospect of being back on the field at the end of the month.
"It has been a challenging and often frustrating time for all parties over the last few weeks with so many issues on the table but it has finally come together as of today.
"We're exceptionally grateful to both the Australian and New South Wales governments for granting us an exemption and we respect the process they've had to work through.
"We're hugely appreciative of the support we've had from the NRL, especially from Peter V'landys who has been in our corner throughout."
