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 2 of Comments

Roar Guru

June 16th 2009 @ 11:26am
Redb said | June 16th 2009 @ 11:26am | Report comment

thinker,

Yours is exactly the attitude that will polarise fans. The AFL is the big dog in the south of the country, the other codes get to play the under-dog card against the big bad AFL, try putting AFL fans noses out of joint with a holier than thou attitude in Melbourne and see what happens.

Your comments play into the AFL’s hands and make primarily AFL fans such as myself start to resent the WC bid. You can pick on AFL as the governing body as much as like, pick on my club and treat it with disdain and you’ll find out just how popular our game is in Melbourne.

You better face up to this, Australia can’t make the bid work without strong Melbourne support. II wouldn’t be surprised if Melbourne gets the final to keep the Vic Govt happy (and its constituents) and thus do a deal with the AFL.

Redb

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June 16th 2009 @ 11:31am
Robbos said | June 16th 2009 @ 11:31am | Report comment

Pip,

Well put, I totally agree, if & when Australia gets the world cup, the football codes should all work together to ensure that Australia puts on a good show, which I hope will also allow the sport followers of the world to experience some of our sports not known to them.

The Football World cup, should not begin the battle of the codes. Whether we host or play in it.
Like I said many times I don’t follow Basketball, but am a avid fan when we play in Olympics. I’m not a big into bike racing, but I will cheer on the Aussies especially Cadel during the Tour de France.

Some sporting events are big enough to pull in the neutrals.

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Roar Guru

June 16th 2009 @ 11:44am
Pippinu said | June 16th 2009 @ 11:44am | Report comment

Thinker
you ain’t got you’re thinking hat on.

1. FIFA regs have zero impact on grounds controlled by the AFL (FIFA is similar to the UN in that it has a large membership, but it is corrupt as all hell and has little legislative power – if you don’t understand what I mean by that, I am happy to explain further).

2. If you think a Sherrin is shaped like an egg, I suggest you go and do some remedial maths.

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June 16th 2009 @ 11:58am
The Bear said | June 16th 2009 @ 11:58am | Report comment

How many newspapers could be sold by putting World Cup news on the back page (with quality reporting, mind) throughout those 15 days in June?? Yep, our Aussie winter codes may indeed take a “back” seat, to where some of these papers usually keep Football articles, deeper in the sheets. Other than that, it will be business as usual (kind of).

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June 16th 2009 @ 12:19pm
thinker said | June 16th 2009 @ 12:19pm | Report comment

@redb and pip a deal with teh AFL lol wut as the afl has found out with ACDC they aint going to get a f-ing choice in the matter

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June 16th 2009 @ 12:21pm
AndrewM said | June 16th 2009 @ 12:21pm | Report comment

Hey Oikee haha yes you can thank football for that.. I suppose as a football supporter we have to thank RL for the fantastic grounds that the A-League currently uses.

Some of the stadia we have in this country is better than most teams in the EPL and after WC I would think most teams would have home grounds of 40+

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Roar Guru

June 16th 2009 @ 12:29pm
Pippinu said | June 16th 2009 @ 12:29pm | Report comment

Thinker
try proclaiming that in Melbourne and see how far you get.

Bugger all Melburnians come to the Roar, this is why silly little pronouncements like yours can almost sound like gospel.

The WC will have minimal effect on the AFL (it might mean not having access to the MCG for around 6 to 8 weeks) – otherwise, there is no other effect as AFL grounds will not be used by the WC.

But I repeat for your benefit – not even the 2nd coming of Christ would interrupt the AFL season.

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June 16th 2009 @ 12:42pm
Tom said | June 16th 2009 @ 12:42pm | Report comment

Pip, I think you’re being a little naive.

The World Cup will have to have priority for training grounds, transportation, services and infrastructure. The country will be accommodating hundreds of thousands of tourists using hotels, airfares and other services. It would be incredibly hard for the AFL and NRL to work around that for the month that its on.

I think it would be sensible for them to take a hiatus during that time. The AFL already has a split round. Just cancel the pre-season cup and start the proper season three weeks early.

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June 16th 2009 @ 12:42pm
thinker said | June 16th 2009 @ 12:42pm | Report comment

pip that is no silly little pronouncement
your last post just shows how much you are in denial you are
“The WC will have minimal effect on the AFL (it might mean not having access to the etihad stadium and the MCG for around 6 to 8 weeks) – otherwise, there is no other effect as AFL grounds will not be used by the WC except they are in use as training bases for world cup teams.”

just fixing up your statement for you

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June 16th 2009 @ 12:43pm
Captain Nemo said | June 16th 2009 @ 12:43pm | Report comment

“But I repeat for your benefit – not even the 2nd coming of Christ would interrupt the AFL season.”

so pip, i was right, you guys are more fanatacical than evangelists!!!

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