The national governing body made the call late on Tuesday, just a day after declaring football would go on at the grassroots level with guidelines such as having only essential personnel at matches.

The suspension started at midnight on March 17 and came after FFA convened a meeting of the national COVID-19 working committee and the presidents of the state member federations to further discuss football's response to COVID-19. A NNSWF statement said the decision was made after "careful consideration and having regard to the feedback received from the grassroots community". This suspension covers playing, training, grading, match official and coach development at all levels of grassroots football.

"NNSWF met with its seven member zones surrounding the suspension and each member zone is committed to and considering the impacts this recent decision has on the season and is focusing on maximising participation in the event the seasons may be disrupted," the statement read.

"We encourage all clubs to continue receiving and activating player registrations and providing member zones the information required for them to construct competitions and MiniRoos fixtures for when the season continues."

A planned teleconference of NNSWF and NPL club officials at 5.30pm on Tuesday was scrapped but the federation is set to reveal an action plan on Wednesday.

The ban means the NPL, originally scheduled to start this weekend, will not commence until round four, at the earliest. The Herald Women's Premier League and men's second division Northern League One have played two rounds each.

Despite FFA's call on Monday, Football South Australia that day became the first member federation to suspend games and training. Other sports governing bodies, including Rugby Australia and Cricket Australia, suspended competitions before FFA followed suit on Tuesday.

"Our decision today follows extensive discussions with all of Australia's nine State and Territory Member Federations, taking into consideration the latest feedback from all levels of the football community," FFA chief James Johnson said. "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.

"We also recognise that there have been some recent material developments which have changed the landscape significantly, including the decisions made by the Victorian and ACT Governments to declare States of Emergency late yesterday afternoon. Today, more schools, universities and also public sporting facilities have announced that they will be closing so we have had to respond quickly."

"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.

"More Australians play grassroots football than any other team sport in the country and we have been able to listen to the voice of our community, through the establishment of the National COVID-19 Working Committee and our Guidelines, who have expressed a desire to contribute more to the nation at this time through a unified and Whole of Game response.

"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.

"I would like to acknowledge how Member Federations have worked so constructively with FFA, through the Working Committee and established Guidelines, to arrive at what is right for our players, coaches, officials, their families and the wider community. We are meeting on a daily basis and will continue to do so, taking into account the latest Government medical advice and community sentiment.

"FFA will continue to communicate new developments in the lead-up to 14 April 2020."