Football Federation Australia announced on Tuesday afternoon that all grassroots football (including training) will be suspended until at least April 14 due to concerns over the spread of COVID-19.

All of Football South Coast's competitions will be postponed, including the IPL.

FSC chief executive officer Ann-Marie Balliana said it was "better to be safe than sorry" when it came to the current situation.

"All football activity has been postponed until the 14^th of April and at that point, everything will be re-assessed," she said.

"I think it was expected. We've seen information changing daily and I think everybody is of the view that it's better to be safe than sorry."

See more: Remaining NBL grand finals cancelled

The Wollongong Wolves' National Premier League One premiership defence has also been suspended.

"It is disappointing, but people's health comes before anything," Wolves coach Luke Wilkshire said.

"The ban on training will be a challenge, but we'll manage to overcome it. We'll sit down to design programs that allow the guys to train individually without being in close proximity.

"A large chunk of this squad want to play professionally, so the last thing they want to do is stop training. We'll work together as a club and individuals to make sure they have a program to maintain their fitness."

FFA chief executive officer James Johnson said the decision was made following extensive discussions with all nine of Australia's state and territory member foundations.

"We are also taking into consideration the ongoing response by both the broader international and Australian communities which is evolving almost on an hourly basis now," Johnson said.

"It is very regrettable that grassroots football will not proceed for the next month, but as a good and responsible citizen, we recognise that our game of approximately 1.96 million participants, has a significant role to play in slowing the spread of the virus.

"As a game we need to be responsive and agile in how we deal with this situation, and we are working together around the clock to deal with this challenge. We will continue to assess our position regularly to ensure that it is reflective of the most accurate state of affairs and views of the game."

We have removed our paywall from our stories about the coronavirus. This is a rapidly changing situation and we aim to make sure our readers are as informed as possible. If you would like to support our journalists you can subscribe here.