Absolute scenes marred what was supposed to be an exclusive, wildly expensive President’s Club event at the MCG prior to yesterday’s Anzac Day AFL clash, with over 30 people reportedly dropping “one by one” after succumbing to food poisoning.
[jwplayer wqe0X5mC]
Guests at the President’s Club function – held in the Melbourne Cricket Club’s Olympic Room – reportedly began feeling unwell almost immediately after being served a chicken and rabbit terrine entree at around 12:30pm yesterday afternoon.
By 3:30pm, at least 30 people had fallen ill, reporting feeling light-headed and faint, with some even passing out.
Footage from inside the function shows paramedics wheeling stretchers through the room as guest speaker Kevin Sheedy answers questions on-stage in the background.
A handful of patrons were transported to hospital in stable condition suffering gastro-intestinal complaints, Ambulance Victoria confirmed.
The Health Department also confirmed that food poisoning was the cause of the outbreak of illness, and that sampling was being conducted on guests and in the MCG kitchen facilities to determine the cause of the problem.
The extremely exclusive function, run by the Essendon Football Club and the MCC, charged punters a whopping $725 per person for a seat, which included prime viewing seats for the game. Around 600 people were in attendance.
AFL boss Gillon McLachlan was present at the function and did see the utter chaos unfolded.
I didn’t see vomiting, I saw some people fainting, distressed and sort of light-headed. I think a level of pain, but more light-headedness I would’ve said.
Pretty luxurious way to load up your fanciest dacks, if you ask us.
