1:36:34 PM Fri 9 December, 2005
Paul Gough
Sportal for afl.com.au
The AFL has expressed its concern over the timing of two U2 concerts at Telstra Dome, just days before the start of the home and away season.
AFL football operations manager Adrian Anderson said the league has asked Dome management for an assurance the surface of the ground will not be damaged by the concerts - which are less than a week before the start of the 2006 premiership season.
"I was surprised," Anderson admitted when asked about the timing of the concerts - which are on March 24 and 25 with the first home and away game at the ground to take place on Friday March 31 between the Bulldogs and Richmond.
The concerts also come less than a week before the busiest football period for Telstra Dome since the ground first opened in 2000.
With the MCG being unavailable for the first three rounds in 2006 - due to the dismantling of the athletics track following the Commonwealth Games - Telstra Dome will host 11 matches in first three rounds next season, including four in round one.
Last year the ground hosted just five matches in the same period with the overall number of matches at Telstra Dome this year being a record 50 with the MCG hosting just 39.
The AFL's chief worry is if the ground surface is damaged by the U2 concerts, it won't have time to recover given the short turnaround to the first home and away match and the huge traffic the ground will have from then on.
"We are concerned about that," Anderson said.
"We've corresponded with Telstra Dome about that and we have asked for their assurance that the ground will be presented for the AFL in a suitable condition to enable it to take its full load of AFL games.'
"(And) we want to know that those concerts won't affect that."
"I'm sure Telstra Dome will have a plan in place to make sure that the ground is not jeopardised for our competition by those concerts and we are looking forward to hearing from Telstra Dome about how they plan to do that."
"The ground has a heavy load next year and they have people with great expertise in turf management so we are looking forward to seeing how they are going to manage that load to make sure the ground is in top nick for its AFL commitments."
Of course, it would have to be our game that will be mostly likely to be affected.
