The emergence of the Omicron variant has created COVID chaos across Australia and the A-Leagues have felt the brunt of that so far this season.
After delaying the new A-League Men campaign slightly to allow for most state borders to re-open, the competition has been hampered by dozens of players testing positive for COVID-19 in recent weeks.
The A-League Women has been similarly impacted with a number of games postponed as the Australian Professional Leagues (APL) tries to keep both seasons afloat.
While the respective competitions look set to continue despite ongoing cases, that hasn't stopped a number of matches being postponed with a significant backlog of games now looming.
The A-League Men's regular season was originally scheduled to finish on May 1 but that date now looks in doubt.
Which A-League Men games have been postponed?
| Original date | Round | Match | Stadium |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sat Dec 18 | 5 | Brisbane Roar v Perth Glory | Moreton Daily Stadium |
| Thu Dec 23 | 6 | Adelaide United v Perth Glory | Coopers Stadium |
| Sun Dec 26 | 6 | Newcastle Jets v Western Sydney Wanderers | McDonald Jones Stadium |
| Mon Dec 27 | 6 | Central Coast Mariners v Wellington Phoenix | Central Coast Stadium |
| Mon Dec 27 | 6 | Brisbane Roar v Melbourne City | Moreton Daily Stadium |
| Fri Dec 31 | 7 | Central Coast Mariners v Macarthur FC | Central Coast Stadium |
| Sat Jan 1 | 7 | Newcastle Jets v Melbourne City | McDonald Jones Stadium |
| Sat Jan 1 | 7 | Western Sydney Wanderers v Western United | CommBank Stadium |
| Sun Jan 2 | 7 | Sydney FC v Perth Glory | Netstrata Jubilee Stadium |
| Sun Jan 2 | 7 | Melbourne Victory v Brisbane Roar | AAMI Park |
| Wed Jan 5 | 8 | Wellington Phoenix v Brisbane Roar | WIN Stadium |
| Wed Jan 5 | 8 | Macarthur FC v Perth Glory | Campbelltown Stadium |
| Wed Jan 5 | 24 | Melbourne City v Adelaide United | AAMI Park |
| Fri Jan 7 | 9 | Western United v Sydney FC | AAMI Park |
| Sat Jan 8 | 9 | Western Sydney Wanderers v Perth Glory | CommBank Stadium |
| Sat Jan 8 | 9 | Wellington Phoenix v Newcastle Jets | Netstrata Jubilee Stadium |
| Sun Jan 9 | 9 | Brisbane Roar v Central Coast Mariners | Moreton Daily Stadium |
| Sun Jan 9 | 9 | Melbourne City v Macarthur FC | AAMI Park |
| Fri Jan 14 | 10 | Macarthur FC v Western United | Campbelltown Stadium |
| Sat Jan 15 | 10 | Perth Glory v Wellington Phoenix | HBF Park |
| Sun Jan 16 | 10 | Western Sydney Wanderers v Melbourne Victory | CommBank Stadium |
| Wed Jan 19 | 8 | Melbourne City v Central Coast Mariners | AAMI Park |
| Sat Jan 15 | 10 | Central Coast Mariners v Newcastle Jets | Central Coast Stadium |
| Wed Jan 19 | 8 | Adelaide United v Western Sydney Wanderers | Coopers Stadium |
Which A-League Women games have been postponed?
| Original date | Round | Match | Stadium |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sat Jan 1 | 5 | Western Sydney Wanderers v Canberra United | Wanderers Centre of Football |
| Sun Jan 2 | 5 | Melbourne City v Newcastle Jets | Kingston Heath |
| Fri Jan 7 | 6 | Newcastle Jets v Melbourne Victory | No.2 Sportsground |
| Mon Dec 27 | 6 | Central Coast Mariners v Wellington Phoenix | Central Coast Stadium |
| Mon Dec 27 | 6 | Brisbane Roar v Melbourne City | Moreton Daily Stadium |
| Fri Dec 31 | 7 | Central Coast Mariners v Macarthur FC | Central Coast Stadium |
| Sat Jan 1 | 7 | Newcastle Jets v Melbourne City | McDonald Jones Stadium |
Could the A-League seasons be suspended or cancelled?
A-Leagues commissioner Greg O’Rourke recently ruled out suspending either the A-League Men or Women seasons entirely with hope that clubs hit hard by COVID-19 can bounce back quickly and avoid continued outbreaks.
"I don’t think so at this point in time, because we’re looking at this on a game by game basis," O'Rourke told Keep Up when asked about a possible season suspension.
"We’re already starting to see a situation where teams who have had high numbers of COVID in their cohort, such as Melbourne City, will now return to competition, after having missed two rounds.
"Then you’ve got this cycle, if you like, where clubs with a critical mass of COVID will then be cleared to return and they’ve had COVID. So I think we’re going to see a rolling effect rather than a cessation of the season."
O'Rourke also believes that the A-League Men season will now be completed by the end of May as they look to play mid-week games to deal with postponements.
A shortened campaign could also be on the cards with the current 26-match season potentially reduced down to 22 games if needed.