Will AFL and NRL take a backseat to World Cup?

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By Rich_daddy, 16 Jun 2009 Rich_daddy is a Roar Pro

Tagged:: 2018 World Cup, 2022 World Cup, AFL, football, NRL, Rugby League, Socceroos, World Cup

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Germany coach Jurgen Klinsmann, right, celebrates with forward Miroslav Klose at the end of the World Cup, Group A soccer match between Germany and Poland, at the Dortmund stadium, Germany, Wednesday, June 14, 2006. Germany won 1-0. The other teams in Group A are Ecuador and Costa Rica. AP Photo/Murad Sezer

The “official” launch of Australia’s bid for the 2018 or 2022 Football World Cup occurred last Sunday. In being considered for hosts, a range of logistical factors will be taken into consideration.

If Australia was successful in its bid, a major logistical challenge would be how the AFL and NRL seasons could be altered to accommodate the World Cup.

The World Cup would have to be held during in the off season of the northern hemisphere club competitions, so June or July. I really can’t see Australia being able to change this. Nor would they would want to rock the boat, anyway.

Therefore, the World Cup would occur for one month right in the middle of the NRL and AFL season. This eliminates the option the AFL used in the year 2000 when they moved the season forward by three weeks to accommodate for the Olympics.

So that leaves two remaining options.

The first is that the competitions play as normal, concurrently with the World Cup. I really can’t see that happening.

I don’t believe there would be enough stadiums to go around, and the television and media coverage of all three competitions would be adversely affected.

So the only other option I can see is to simply put the NRL and AFL on hiatus during the tournament. It seems a reasonable solution, after all, it would be an incredible opportunity to have Australia host the World Cup and probably a once in a lifetime one.

So perhaps the AFL and NRL would be willing to do this.

However, this option throws up some conundrums.

For instance, will the grand finals still be played in September? If they are, both competitionss would have to start a month early as well as taking a break for a month.

Not exactly ideal.

Alternatively, the grand finals could be played in October. Plausible, but would this upset some traditionalists?

It may not be an issue, but I think the FFA needs to take this into consideration in its bid.

IF FIFA can see the potential for conflict between the codes, then it could jeopardise Australia’s chances of hosting the greatest show on earth.

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The Crowd Says (211) | Page 1 of Comments

tifosi said | June 16th 2009 @ 7:25am | Report comment

This will be one of the sticking points no doubt.

The other football codes have said they will support the bid.

My main concern is the state of the playing surfaces. If rugby/league/AFL are played right up to the tournament then it will be an issue.

You would think that the other codes will keep going i guess. AFL could still be played at gabba scg subiaco football park and telstra dome, League can play at the smaller venues. State of origin would have to be played at a different time though.

However if FIFA said that they wouldnt support an australian bid unless the other codes had to stop for 5 weeks or so, the state govts have already said that the world cup would take precedence over the local competitions.

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True Tah said | June 16th 2009 @ 8:17am | Report comment

I think both the AFL and NRL will take a backseat to the world cup without doubt.

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Chop said | June 16th 2009 @ 9:01am | Report comment

I don’t think there’s any doubt that the other codes would make other arrangements for the World Cup.

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Luke W said | June 16th 2009 @ 9:20am | Report comment

I don’t think the other codes would risk the negative publicity of interfering with the World Cup.

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Redb said | June 16th 2009 @ 9:22am | Report comment

The AFL have already stated they support the bid.

Redb

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Pippinu said | June 16th 2009 @ 9:24am | Report comment

Speaking on behalf of the AFL, a bit of contingency planning is already well advanced (and at this point, it is nothing more than a low probability high impact risk some 13 years out).

The AFL will definitely make alternative plans, but I don’t actually see why their season would be impacted to any great degree. They would have full access to the Dome for the whole of the WC, along with Geelong’s home ground, and by then one other Melbourne AFL venue would be up and running (probably the present Princes Park).

On top of that they’d have all the present AFL venues in Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane, Gold Coast and Sydney fully availalbe (along with part time AFL venues like Manuka and Launceston, by that time, probably more developed as proper AFL venues).

So I don’t actually see an issue here at all.

As for the suggestion that the AFL take a break of 6 to 8 weeks in the middle of the year, and play their grand final in October, let us all be clear:

1. The grand final has been played in late September for over 110 years (with the exception of two replayed grand finals); and

2. The WC might be big, it might be huge, it might stop the whole world in its tracks, but not even the second coming of Christ would interupt the AFL season.

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Towser said | June 16th 2009 @ 9:38am | Report comment

. FIFA requirements are set in stone. Seems to me there is a massive underestimation in many articles & statements of Ben Buckley’s role in World Cup bid logistics. Wouldnt be suprised if one of the reasons Frank Lowy hired him was his connections in sport,particularly with the AFL, in view to a future World Cup bid. I would be suprised if AFL/NRL considerations are not already done & dusted.
Lets face it how dumb would it be to launch a World cup bid unless you had all the angles at home sorted. Nothing we can do about FIFA politics only hope that Frank Lowy can use his substantial powers of persuasion on the right people over the next year or so.

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Redb said | June 16th 2009 @ 9:39am | Report comment

Pip,

Spot on. The AFL does not need to react to anything at this stage. Let the steam dissipate and see what substance emerges.

Redb

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oikee said | June 16th 2009 @ 9:57am | Report comment

On behalf of the NRL we welcome with open arms the bid. Up-graded grounds for our code will benifit league for the next 50 years. Thank you in advance world soccer. 60 thousand at suncorp state of origin is a blessing. Yes NRL are right behind this bid. 4 weeks out of our comp for having all our grounds up-graded at no cost for our game is a god send. Cheers to soccer.

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thinker said | June 16th 2009 @ 11:10am | Report comment

When you take into accout the fifa regs about stadium usage before the World Cup (wich is about a month of non use prior to the cup),the handegg codes will just have to make due or cancil their seasons.

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