God, I love Australia. Nowhere else in the world will you find so many football codes constantly warring with each other for the hearts and minds of the people. How many epic pub brawls have started over rugby league fans calling Aussie rules a girl’s game, or vice versa? The world may never know, and more’s the pity.
The latest battle in the Aussie Football Wars, however, won’t be fought over beers. Lost amidst the massive English and American bids for the 2018 World Cup is the fact that Australia would like to host FIFA’s big show, too, because soccer is growing down under, too.
And guess what? The AFL and NRL aren’t giving up their stadiums for your girl’s game. Oh, no.
See, unlike England and America, Australia has not one, but two major pro football leagues in season in June and July, and those leagues aren’t too keen on giving up some of their stadiums in the middle of the season. Sure, the World Cup might be the biggest sporting event on the planet and might bring unprecedented tourism dollars to Australia. That won’t stop the AFL and NRL from looking at it as a not only a huge shot in the arm to the competition, but a massive pain in the ass.
Perhaps if Football Federation Australia really wants to follow through on its darkhorse bid, it should start considering some new construction. Melbourne Cricket Ground can fit 100,000 people, but for a soccer game, they’ll all be about half a mile away from the action. Imagine paying the GDP of Slovenia for front row seats to the World Cup Final, only to find your view is partially obstructed by that bench 20 yards in front of you.
As much as I’d love to see the World Cup return to the States, I’m now hoping Australia does get it soon, if only to see just how ugly and bitter the Aussie Football Wars can get. I can’t wait to see the AFL devise ways to lure packs of Brazilians and Ivorians down to Docklands. “We’ll show ya some real footy, mates!” The resulting confusion alone might make for great television.
(Spotted on Pitch Invasion.)
6 responses so far ↓
1 Mister Football // Dec 10, 2009 at 11:59 pm
Terrific article Dave.
Here is another perspective from an AFL fan:
http://barklystend.blogspot.com/
and I love that you have included a Sherrin in your picture!
2 Dave // Dec 11, 2009 at 10:11 am
Nice. I’m not the least bit surprised people are launching personal attacks against you. There’s some hate in that war.
3 Simon // Dec 11, 2009 at 5:18 pm
By 2018 the NRL mightn’t even exist !
http://bigpondnews.com/articles/Sport/2009/12/12/NRL_clubs_to_hold_council_of_war_405063.html
They really should get there own house in order first.
4 a different Dave // Dec 13, 2009 at 5:21 am
Pardon my ignorance, but aren’t a lot of the stadia in Australia publicly owned and/or publicly financed (I assume they are based on my incomplete knowledge of the subject)? So haven’t the AFL and NRL been in some sense publicly subsidized by the Australian taxpayer for a very long time? And if that’s the case, is it not a little hypocritical to claim that it is “unfair” that AFL and NRL have to share “their” stadia with a “foreign” competitor for a couple of months for a once in a lifetime event? Are there not enough stadia in Australia to allow AFL and NRL to schedule around this event? If not, better start building!
Whatever. More reason to hold the World Cup in the USA where we don’t have to deal with this nonsense; plenty of empty stadia ready to go in the summer months, any time FIFA wants.
5 Jimi // Dec 13, 2009 at 7:56 am
I’m not sure about the NRL but in the AFL’s case the main point of dispute is over the MCG and etihad stadium. In the MCG’s current form around $78 million has been funded by the government and close to $600 million by the Melbourne Cricket Club which draws most of its revenue from AFL crowds. I believe Etihad stadium was also mostly privately funded. So although there has been some government funding the majority has been provided by AFL fans. There is also the small matter of AFL having the exclusive rights to the use of both stadiums, they have agreed to let soccer use the MCG if Aus wins the WC but do not want to give up the rights to Etihad stadium.
On the matter of AFL using other grounds there aren’t really many that I could think of. My guess is that most of the suburban grounds where the clubs used to play and now train at would not meet health and safety regulations for crowds over about 20,000. Apparently FIFA would insist on using these for national team bases anyway.
6 stanford // Dec 15, 2009 at 3:28 am
thank for sharing.