Football Australia (FA) CEO James Johnson has confirmed a Socceroos homecoming in October is realistic with robust plans in place to ensure a safe return to home soil.
Reports on Sunday claimed Graham Arnold's side will play Oman in a World Cup qualifier next month at Bankwest Stadium with vaccinated fans even in line to attend if vaccine targets are met.
Having not played in Australia since late 2019, Johnson has been pushing for the Socceroos to return home for months now and has seemingly made some promising progress.
The FA boss believes they've developed an ideal way to keep the team and community safe with a homecoming seen of vital importance to both.
"It's realistic. The New South Wales government have put out a very clear pathway forward once we hit 70 per cent of vaccinations of eligible people across the state, it's time to open up," Johnson told Socceroos Insider on Sunday.
"We're in discussions with NSW government and we're really hoping we'll be front and centre of their opening up plans.
"We need to ensure that the community remains safe at all times and what we've done together with the NSW government is put together a really robust set of protocols which really are world class. I don't think there are many sports, certainly in Australia, but also abroad, that would go to these extents.
"So the players will be vaccinated, they'll be monitored in the lead up to coming home, they'll be participating in a bubble once they got into Australia, they'll be playing in a bubble...so there's not a chance there will be any community transmission.
"What that does mean for the country is that it allows our fans and the Australian public to really come together because the Socceroos as we know are really a unifying symbol that can bring this country together. That's what the community needs at the moment."
On the possibility of vaccinated fans attending the game against Oman on October 7, Johnson added: "Our first priority is to just get the team playing here in Australia again.
"And then our second step is to get fans back into the stadium.
"It's important to play at home when we play Oman, they are a good team, we saw that they just beat Japan in Tokyo on Thursday night, so they're a team that the home-field advantage would certainly help us with."
The Socceroos began the final phase of World Cup qualifying with a 3-0 win against China last week in Qatar and next face Vietnam in Hanoi on Tuesday night.