Australia's sports landmark MCG prime terror target: security expert

A prominent British security expert has warned that the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), Australia's largest sporting arena, is vulnerable to terrorist attacks.

Sue Wilkinson, who was in charge of London Olympic Games Intelligence for the British government, was appointed to the newly created role of senior security at the MCG in May.

Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) boss Stephen Gough told Fairfax Media on Tuesday that Wilkinson recently warned MCC committee members that Australia remained a target for terrorist attacks and the MCG was a prime target.

Wilkinson's warning comes as Gough confirmed that the stadium is still considering building an outer perimeter fence, dubbed the "ring of steel," around the ground to deal with the ground's unique security challenges.

"We are not locked into an outer perimeter ... What we are locked into is taking our security to a level that is required in the current environment," Gough told Fairfax.

"We need to adopt the best possible practices in line with the threat level in this country and we have unique challenges because we are in parkland, which makes us more vulnerable.

"We share concourses and foot bridges and we host daily tours and visits and we have public railway lines nearby. We are exploring various structures and whether they be temporary or permanent and the cost and whether any fencing would be 10, 20, 30 or 50 meters outside the stadium."

Gough and the MCC face strong opposition in trying to impose the perimeter fence with the ground's most prominent tenant, the Australian Football League (AFL), expressing resistance to the idea which AFL clubs would have to pay for in part.

The MCG, Australia's largest stadium, hosts approximately 50 AFL games each year in addition to all three formats of cricket and some large music concerts. Endit