Sport and Recreation Minister Grant Robertson has discussed the logistics surrounding the return of professional sport, after both New Zealand Rugby and Netball New Zealand announced the resumption of competition.
With today's announcement that sport will be allowed to resume at Covid-19 Alert Level 2, both New Zealand Rugby and Netball New Zealand have signalled their intentions to have their domestic competitions begin again.
New Zealand Rugby revealed their revamped ' Super Rugby Aotearoa ' structure, while netball's ANZ Premiership will continue after having been suspended back in March.
Both competitions' resumption dates will be announced once the move to Alert Level 2 is revealed.
Speaking to media this afternoon, Mr Robertson addressed concerns regarding the return of professional sport, one of the biggest concerns being the idea of contact sport when New Zealand is supposed to be practicing physical and social distancing.
"Obviously for contact sport, there is contact. The distancing is more around your interaction with people that you don't know, with strangers, people who aren't involved," Mr Robertson said.
"But it's really the creation of bubbles for the teams that will allow them to keep safe.
Mr Robertson also assured that every step has been taken to ensure the safety of those competing, as well as spectators and fans - culminating in competitions resuming entirely behind closed doors.
"They are professional sports, and essentially they're workplaces," Mr Robertson says.
"The rules that they have will be ones that will be similar to people in a workplace. WorkSafe New Zealand's actually been working with the sporting bodies to make sure that they can create an environment that's safe for their players and the people around them.
"Unfortunately, there won't be crowds there because of the gathering restrictions, but I think a lot of New Zealanders have welcomed this day.
Competition won't be able to resume straight away, Mr Robertson added, with New Zealand Rugby stating they'll need three to four weeks' time to prepare for resumption.
"We've been working with Netball New Zealand and New Zealand Rugby for some weeks now around how this would be possible under Level 2. They'd been doing some really intensive work under this.
"There's still a way to go and they still have to make sure they get all of there Is dotted at Ts crossed, so this won't be happening immediately, but it is something for us to look forward to."
Mr Robertson will reveal more details when he fronts media tomorrow afternoon
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