VICTORIAN AFL clubs are considering pulling their involvement from the 2020 VFL competition.

The move has been canvassed on Saturday in a series of conference calls and meetings with AFL officials, as the industry continues to wrestle with contingencies pertaining to the coronavirus outbreak.

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A day after publicly committing to playing its round one series of matches as fixtured, the AFL again briefed club CEOs and presidents on Saturday morning and early afternoon about plans for round two and beyond.

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Copy link Link copied to clipboard What next for the AFL? Damian Barrett and Cal Twomey discuss the AFL's decision to go ahead with round one as the Coronavirus crisis hits

It emerged during those discussions that several clubs believe they need to remove their players from any involvement with their VFL organisations, where they come in contact with people who are outside their own heavily-controlled and medically-focused work environments.

If a majority of Victorian clubs withdrew their players from VFL involvement, it would place the 2020 VFL season in jeopardy.

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In other developments on Saturday, it emerged that:

- The AFL was prepared to cram up to six rounds of football into four weeks beyond round one, as a potential measure to stockpile some of the required 198 premiership games before the near-inevitability of the competition being shutdown indefinitely when the Coronavirus outbreaks peaks in Australia;

- There are mixed views among the AFL and its clubs as to what will happen if a player is diagnosed with coronavirus – some clubs believe the competition should be shut down immediately, others have the view that removing that player from the club and closely monitoring all others would allow for competition to continue;

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- Several players remain uneasy about the plans to start the 2020 season without spectator attendance when other major sports competitions around the world, including the NBA and EPL, have shut theirs down to deal with the Coronavirus outbreak;

- Some clubs are growing increasingly worried about the financial pain that is already occurring and are fearful their organisations will never fully recover;

- The clubs are attempting an unusual collaborative approach to tackle the issues which relate to members and fans.

After a dramatic day of dealings with governments and medical authorities, the AFL on Friday night revealed it planned to open the 2020 season as per its round one fixture, beginning with Richmond versus Carlton on Thursday night, but without spectators in attendance.

It is believed round two matches will stay as fixtured, too, but that every round thereafter could be altered in some form.

The AFL and the clubs are well aware, though, that this rapidly moving coronavirus situation could force it to postpone matches at any stage, including the cancellation of the round one fixture.

Twitter: @barrettdamian