AFL season in doubt if World Cup bid successful
By AAP, 7 Dec 2009 AAP is a Roar Pro
- Tagged:
- 2018 Wold Cup, 2022 World Cup, AFL, Andrew Demetriou, football, MCG
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The AFL could be forced to cancel its season if Australia wins the right to host the 2018 or 2022 soccer World Cup, AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou said on Monday.
Demetriou said that if world soccer’s governing body FIFA could claim exclusive access to the nation’s biggest stadium – the 100,000-capacity MCG – for four months, it would be impossible to schedule a viable AFL season.
Even though the World Cup only lasts for four-and-a-half weeks in June-July, Demetriou said the AFL had learnt that the MCG could be decommissioned for four months while its most important venue was refitted for soccer.
“The World Cup starts … in June and there’s four or five weeks of securitising it, putting signage up,” Demetriou told the Fairfax Radio Network.
“They would commence work in late March or early April and that would probably mean we’d just have to cancel the season because that would mean we wouldn’t have the MCG for 16 weeks.
“We could probably do without it for 10 weeks and we’d have to play at Etihad Stadium.
“But we couldn’t do it (for 16 weeks), we’d have to cancel the season.
“You can’t just move the season to January, it’s out of the (TV) ratings period, you’ve got cricket, it’s hot, it just doesn’t work.
“We’ve even toyed with the possibility of suspending the season for four weeks because that’s what we originally thought was going to happen.
“And that could work, it’s not easy but it could work.
“We’re trying to find ways to accommodate the FFA … but we haven’t had much come back the other way.”
Demetriou said the AFL had a history of working constructively alongside other major sporting events in Australia, such as the 2000 Sydney Olympics and the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games.
In 2000, the AFL season began a month early, allowing it to finish in August ahead of the Sydney Games in September.
“Cancelling a season is a disaster, it affects revenue – we’ve got broadcast agreements, we’ve got agreements with members, we’ve got agreements with corporate partners,” said the AFL CEO.
“The cost is a monumental cost and I’m talking hundreds of millions of dollars.
“Secondly, it would probably mean that some clubs who rely on the $7.5-8 million (annual) distribution from the AFL, there’s no way they could be sustained because they haven’t got that money coming in.
” … It does (put clubs at risk), it would mean a lot of jobs at risk, it would mean the severing of some agreements.
” But I don’t think it’s going to get to that, I think wiser heads will prevail.
“It’s not just us, I’m sure the NRL are in the same boat, and the ARU with their Super 15 season.
“This (would be) the first World Cup where four football codes have ever been staged in the one country.”
England are favoured to win the right to host the 2018 World Cup finals, but Australia’s bid for the 2022 competition continues to gain momentum.
FIFA will vote on the host nations for both tournaments in December 2010.
UPDATED
Football Federation Australia CEO Ben Buckley has moved to ease concerns that hosting the 2018 or 2022 World Cups could force the cancellation of an AFL season.
Buckley rejected AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou’s claim that soccer’s governing body FIFA could claim exclusive access to the 100,000 capacity MCG for four months.
Demetriou said earlier on Monday that such a situation could make it impossible to schedule a viable AFL season.
But Buckley insisted that the MCG would not need to be out of action for much longer than eight weeks.
“We need to get access four weeks before the competition for preparation for pitches and preparation for overlay that are required by FIFA and the duration of the tournament,” Buckley said on Monday.
“In our estimation, that is six to eight weeks depending on where the finals are played.”
The decision on which country will host the respective 2018 and 2022 World Cups will be made next December.
Buckley said the FFA had provided the AFL with information that the longest a venue could be locked up for would be eight weeks.
The FFA had also had discussions with FIFA last week regarding other football codes in Australia continuing their competition during the World Cup.
Buckley, who was Demetriou’s No.2 at the AFL before taking over the top job at the FFA, said he understood the needs of the other codes.
“I am confident there is goodwill and all the other codes understand there is substantial benefits to Australia as a nation to host a great World Cup,” he said.
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Redb said | December 7th 2009 @ 10:56am | Report comment
Code war thread #324
No deal Mr Lowy.
oikee said | December 7th 2009 @ 2:12pm | Report comment
Hey Redb, this time last week your number one, (Demetriou) was sprouting to you guys how AFL will make millions from the bid, now he is just telling you the truth, the real football is going to squash AFL in 1 season. ? Funny how he went straight to the Mdeia with his problems, ? Is he normally this soft, underbelly, backbone, ? Learn from league, we have been dealing with world cups for a century, we dont make statements, or brag.
But yeah, i feel your pain,,,,,,,,,,,,,, not.
Punter said | December 7th 2009 @ 11:00am | Report comment
Mr Demetriou, the sky is not falling down, take a chill pill.
M1tch said | December 7th 2009 @ 11:00am | Report comment
it wont happen, 6 week break in middle to please FIFA and 14 week regular season and finals for afl and nrl
oikee said | December 7th 2009 @ 2:17pm | Report comment
Hey Mitch,
yeah, thats right, its only a short break you guys, embrace the world’s biggest sporting event that will make Australia richer beyond our wildest dreams, ? And probably kill off a club or 3 . 
But to be honest, if the world cup can deliver oz 50 times what AFL can, maybe we need soccer to be the Number 1 code.
Just a thought, what do you think Redb. ?
PaddyBoy said | February 24th 2011 @ 9:02pm | Report comment
If they play it every four years in Australia.
OzFootballSherrin said | February 24th 2011 @ 10:00pm | Report comment
It’s kinda interesting revisiting this thread.
from my nom de guerre at the time – - I can pretty happily say
“I told you so”.
Kurt said | December 7th 2009 @ 11:06am | Report comment
Definitely a warning shot from AD, but clear ‘offerings’ to the FFA also – namely that the AFL can manage without the MCG for ten weeks as long as they can continue to use Docklands, and will be happy to suspend the season for up to a month to help out the bid. It remains to be seen if the FFA are clever enough to listen and start working properly with the AFL & NRL or will continue with their current doomed unilateral & arrogant approach.
Compensation = $1 billion + said | December 7th 2009 @ 11:07am | Report comment
The reason they want such a huge break is to reconfigure the MCG Mitch.
That kind of disruption is completely unacceptable.
I agree. No Deal
oikee said | December 7th 2009 @ 2:22pm | Report comment
Deal, Deal, that 1 billion will be aided by 50 billion in wealth. So no deal is unexceptable, Deal. The NRL says deal, rugby union, deal, 2 against 1,,,,, deal. Lets not let a little thing get in our way of global success.
The AFL has got to accept that world cups are bigger than any game. We bring untold riches to us poor folk. 
keeper11 said | December 7th 2009 @ 11:14am | Report comment
As usual…
Gloabalisation arrives and not surprisingly Demetriou and the AFL running to their usual media buddys to beat up
an ‘US’ versus ‘THEM’ for the true-beleivers in pseudo- code war #523027…yawn
AFL had no issue re-arranging its schedule around MAJOR international sporting events ala F1 and Commonwealth Games..
a proposed WC 2022 is just one other MAJOR sporting event …
fully supported by the top echelons of australian government and commerce and i would say much of the more open-minded Austrlaian public……
oh..thats right…but this is the dreaded sockah…..
can’t have ever have it on a front or back page of a paper unless its a beatup about a ‘riot’ or ‘crisis’…
Kurt said | December 7th 2009 @ 12:21pm | Report comment
Read Demetriou’s comments and you’ll see he is basically saying they’re happy to take a break, adopt a flexible schedule etc – just that losing the MCG for 16 weeks is a non-starter. Hardly represents a refusal to negotiate.
Michael C said | December 7th 2009 @ 12:31pm | Report comment
What’s wrong with trying to get some information??
The AFL has ONLY offered in principle support thus far,
and has a track record of being flexible,
so, what is your problem??
btw – talking about Media buddies……it’s the FFA that has gone running to it’s Fairfax print media buddies to peddle lies about AFL govt funding and lies about stadia supposedly benefitting from ‘soccer money’ due to 2000 Olympics.
oikee said | December 7th 2009 @ 2:34pm | Report comment
M.C , if it came down to AFL not wanting the world cup, you would be knocked out of the water. Demetriou was on the radio, telling all the Melbourne public how clubs would fall over, now if thats not a media beat-up, i dont know what is, the guy has 200 million dollars in the bank.
Probably a beat-up to get more money. The bid will be 10 years away, plenty of time left yet. By then , Soccer might already be the number 1 code. ? The man is frigthened, scared witless by this mass invasion, the living giant is arriving on our shores, all will be swept before it, and the MCG will become soccer headquarters.
The NRL, hey, we just move to NZ till the beast has gone.
Art Sapphire said | December 7th 2009 @ 11:22am | Report comment
Gotta give it to AD – on laucnching this pre-emptive strike on the FFA.
1. Timing – the Monday after the WC draw for 2010.
2. Weapons – Exclusive report in pro-AFL Herald Sun and interview with Anti-Soccer 3AW tabloid talkback station.
3. The rest of the media pick up on the story and it becomes an avalanche.
Can’y you see its a national crisis. The Cuban Missile Crisis has nothing on this
The AFL Strategy in 20 words or less –
If you don’t pay us off, we’ll use everything we’ve got to sour this process as much as possible.
BigAl said | December 7th 2009 @ 11:34am | Report comment
Well – that’s his job to respond like this.
If /when A WC comes to Australia, I’m sure they’ll be endless arguings about who pays for what etc. but it’s ludicrous to think that a business like the AFL will just sit back and handover money, which they would in effect be doing if they didn’t request adequate compensation for their co-operation! – as detailed in the article, the WC per se would cost heaps – for many parties involved in AFL.
Beast-A-Tron said | December 7th 2009 @ 4:03pm | Report comment
Interestingly, a WC in Australia means a Southern Hemisphere World Cup, that is Winter/Summer has been reversed. Yet for some reason they push ahead with this Eurocentric July Tournament. Many problems could be avoided if the Tournament was moved to October but that would mean upsetting the EPL and other European leagues. I’m constantly told it is the “world game” yet the way business is conducted I’m more inclined to call it the “European Game”.
Evidently it is one continent (and not even the hosting continent at that), not the ‘world’ that FIFA accommodates when planning a World Cup.
Robbos said | December 7th 2009 @ 11:36am | Report comment
Well done Art, keeping them honest. The sky is falling down, the sky is falling down.
Michael C said | December 7th 2009 @ 11:36am | Report comment
Art
tell us what you reckon the AFL and Demetriou should do??
Art Sapphire said | December 7th 2009 @ 11:55am | Report comment
Michael – Andrew is doing what he is paid to do – good on him. If I was being paid a seven figure salary I would do the same
Redb said | December 7th 2009 @ 12:01pm | Report comment
Correct. No so much the salary comment, but this is a huge blow to the AFL to lose an entire season.
The answer is build the new Melb bubble stadium as planned to 50,000 so it can host games. Final goes to Sydney’s ANZ stadium.
AFL season halted for 4 weeks whilst WC is being played.
Redb
oikee said | December 7th 2009 @ 2:41pm | Report comment
You guys are unreel, this is Bussiness, its not i will give you 100 million to go away, if soccer can crush AFL in one mighty sweep, it will, they won’t give any codes anything. And why should they, i dont see Pepsi paying Coke any money,.
Welcome, to the future.
Wake-up, this is war, but on a massive scale, once Soccer the beast has taken and crushed AFL, and possibly rugby union, and league, they will just move into your deralic homes. And make 10 times the amount you have been making. ? Mate they deal in the hundred millions, and thats just for players.
Beast-A-Tron said | December 7th 2009 @ 10:41pm | Report comment
“i dont see Pepsi paying Coke any money”
I don’t see Pepsi demanding Coke cease operations for x months and lend the use of their fixed capital. If you want to draw upon a microeconomic analogy, at least know what you’re talking about.
Pippinu said | December 7th 2009 @ 10:53pm | Report comment
Beast
pretty much everyone on the Roar has zero business sense.
Michael C said | December 7th 2009 @ 12:17pm | Report comment
just don’t forget, that all along, Demetriou has stated “Support in principle, but, need to see the detail”,
….and he’s getting a little frustrated that the details hasn’t been forthcoming,
and given the state heads of govt meeting this week which is supposed to sign off on the bid with the Feds – it’s a good time to stress the fact that there’s an awful lot that is unknown and uncosted.
…..and that along with blatant public lies by soccer administrators and soccer journos claim credit for upgrades at the Gabba and MCG and trying to portray the AFL as recieving Fed Govt funding……….it’s about time the AFL and Demetriou provide some grist for the media mill.
KB said | December 7th 2009 @ 12:28pm | Report comment
The AFL should sack Demetriou and Demetriou should apply for a position with the FFA—If you can’t beat them, then join them, another Grooky administrator can be accommodated on the FFA payroll… No Worries…. Come ‘n’ play
oikee said | December 7th 2009 @ 2:47pm | Report comment
K.B, the beast is arriving, at terminal 1 to 100, if rugby league survives, i will be a happy man.
Yes, he will be somewhere on the payroll. After the ship has sunk, he will just up-date his contract, onto a more lucritive one with footy ball. I smelt fear in his voice this morning.
Republican said | December 7th 2009 @ 11:34am | Report comment
Keeper11
I think you are sterotypically melodramatic as the soccer victim here. The’ rooond ball’ game gets a fair go and is well supported throughout the country from the ground up, including media coverage.
If anything, it has the global muscle to completely overwhelm Aust Footy in this respect, given its world status and the influence that commands.
I believe this early argy bargy is to be expected and that both sides will practice alot of give and take in this process however, it appears for now, that FIFA are the unyielding ones.
They may just be in for a bit of a shock if they are ignorant enough to believe the majority of the public in Australia will be only too willing to compromise their national game, without exception.
Cheers
Michael C said | December 7th 2009 @ 12:37pm | Report comment
and the NRL folk too.
It’s not all AFL here, and remember, in the recent past, there had been more ‘anti’ comment from NRL official circles than AFL.
The focus is on the AFL again now, but, it’s not JUST the AFL.
I saw a nice comment from a person on the PerthNow comments “I think the pro WC people are the ones with no sense of the scale of it. It is far too big and ambitious an event for the FFA to host.”
Nation wide, the FFA are picking fights with everybody.
oikee said | December 7th 2009 @ 2:51pm | Report comment
Hey Micheal, dont bring rugby league into your argument, we are all for having the World cup, and i have seen that nearly 35 thousand people are off to the Africa world cup from OZ so far, add at least that by 32 teams, and you get the gist of what World cup football is all about, I embrace the world cup, as does all rugby league followers.
Your on your own buddy, good luck.
Where is my mate K.B, cheers.
Springs said | December 7th 2009 @ 3:03pm | Report comment
Oikee do no think by any stretch that you represent rugby league, RL supporters or the rugby league community as a whole.
Punter said | December 7th 2009 @ 3:19pm | Report comment
However, I do think he does represent those Rugby League fans who love sport & not fearful of the Football WC.
Punter said | December 7th 2009 @ 3:07pm | Report comment
This is right.
Rugby League & Football have co-existed for years in Western Sydney mate.
MyGeneration said | December 7th 2009 @ 3:08pm | Report comment
Steady on, oikee, speak for yourself, a lot of us are skeptical to say the least…
Michael C said | December 7th 2009 @ 11:35am | Report comment
Ah, I heard the mention on SEN this morning around Collo at Docklands,
In another twist to the footy fight, Etihad Stadium chief Ian Collins is believed to have written to FFA rejecting World Cup matches at the Docklands venue.
But the FFA believes it has the option of seeking government intervention to seize temporary control of the privately owned stadium.
very, very interesting,
given the H-S reported “The AFL is believed to be willing to start the 2018 or 2022 footy season early, and move some games to other venues, but will not accept FIFA’s instruction to close down competition throughout the World Cup action.” this morning,
It appears that :
A. the AFL does not intend shutting down in Melbourne – - it’s apparent that the AFL expects access to either one of Docklands or the MCG…….presumably Docklands where they may feel that the Govt has least leverage.
B. if the flawed bid sees push come to shove, GOvt’s either have to compensate the AFL hugely, or legislate, or both.
Pippinu said | December 7th 2009 @ 11:39am | Report comment
Many will recall that my back of the envelop compensation package for having both the MCG and Etihad for 8 weeks started at $100 mill and was as high as $200 mill (which many on the Roar scoffed at).
But if the AFL can’t run its season at all (recalling that not even World Wars and the Great depression stopped the VFL in the past) – then we’re talking about $1 billion in compensation.
If the Feds have only earmarked $2 billion for the WC – then clearly, they better add 50% to that!!
Sorry my fellow Australians – even 2022 is now looking like absolute pie in the sky.
And the blame rests squarely with Lowy and Buckley for imagining they could put up a bid with zero infrastructure to back it up.
oikee said | December 7th 2009 @ 3:02pm | Report comment
Pip, why do you think the Government would even want to bow to AFL, they have the Golliath called World Football to cater to, and if push came to shove, i think they would bite the bullit and allow AFL to fend for themselves, giving the money on offer in world soccer.(Football.)
If a code thinks it can hold a government to ransom, ? then that code would be football, not AFL. Football (soocer) is worth 50 years of AFL money , so choosen one over the other, would be like hitting the dispence button on the sink muncher.
Not only that, you have all the soccer, and league, and union community against your code, because we all have world cups, big or small, so we know the logistics. I am not against AFL, but any sweet deals wont be forth-coming. It opens up a whole new pandora’s box.
Better off to just squash the nat, and get on with it. Goes to show what a giant the NFL in America really are, they never missed a beat in their world cup year. In oz, we will see codes tumble, and legacies made. Maybe for the better. ? Who knows.
Mr said | December 7th 2009 @ 9:54pm | Report comment
The MCG (or Docklands) is but 1 of 12 stadiums. It’ll only be one or the other, and one of these is the wrong shape.
Why would the AFL demand A$1bn compensation? I figure A$0.00 to be closer to the mark. There are plenty of grounds in Victoria to play the matches scheduled over 8 weeks at a single stadium. Maybe a few Brazil or German supporters may watch AFL and become supporters thus expanding the global empire. That’s more than enough compensation.
Beast-A-Tron said | December 7th 2009 @ 10:59pm | Report comment
“If a code thinks it can hold a government to ransom, ?”
Since when was honouring private and legal commercial contracts considered holding the government to ransom?
“Football (soocer) is worth 50 years of AFL money”
You able to quantify that?
Pippinu said | December 7th 2009 @ 11:03pm | Report comment
Beast
no one here seems to understand economics, finance and contract law.