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AFL, NRL shutdown threat a media beat-up

Roar Pro
27th October, 2009
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Roar Pro
27th October, 2009
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Jarryd Hanye in action during the Week 3 Playoff NRL match between the Bulldogs and the Parramatta Eels at ANZ Stadium in Sydney, Friday, Sept. 25, 2009. AAP Image/Action Photographics, Grant Trouville

Jarryd Hanye in action during the Week 3 Playoff NRL match between the Bulldogs and the Parramatta Eels at ANZ Stadium in Sydney, Friday, Sept. 25, 2009. AAP Image/Action Photographics, Grant Trouville

There has been considerable discussion on news stories, forums and blogs about the apparent “threat” to domestic codes of our World cup bid. The reality of the situation is very different.

“FIFA is forcing the AFL/NRL to shut down for eight weeks” is not an accurate statement at all.

First, FIFA are not forcing the World Cup on Australia – Australia is bidding for it. We are inviting them to allow us to host it.

Second, the “stop playing” bit isn’t accurate – there are two separate rules that come into play here:

1) Stadiums used by the World Cup must be solely available to the Cup for the duration of, and for the 4 weeks prior to, the event.

There are many reasons for this – issues with advertising and signage for example. The stadiums will not be known by the sponsored names, but by names such as “Brisbane World Cup stadium”, “Melbourne World Cup stadium” and so on.

Signage must be adjusted to suit, e.g. remove all the Etihad Stadium (or whatever it is called in a decade!) signs. The venues may be used for official pre-cup functions or publicity events. The grounds must be curated to appropriate quality for football (different sports have different “ideal” turf heights).

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The AFL/NRL turf markings must be removed completely. Security audits must be carried out, and so on.

The other codes can still continue during this time at grounds that will not be used.

In the AFL’s case, this would include the ‘Gabba, SCG, Football Park, Kardinia Park, and whichever Western Sydney venue is used. They could also utilise part-time grounds such as York Park, Manuka Oval and Marrara Stadium.

Similarly, the NRL will have venues such as Wollongong Stadium, Central Coast Stadium, suburban Sydney grounds, Swan St Stadium, Robina Stadium and Ballymore Stadium at their disposal, as well as venues in New Zealand.

2) No other major sports can be run at the same time as the Cup in any of the host cities.

This is mainly for logistical reasons. Accommodation, transport, security and so on will be extremely busy (that’s an understatement!) during the Cup. It also makes it easier for media coverage, obviously everything but the Cup will be battling for a spot on the news.

If England wins one of the bids, they will need to reschedule both the Ashes and Wimbledon. Neither the English Cricket Board nor the All-England Lawn Tennis Club are howling in protest at this.

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The kicker?

It hasn’t even been clarified as to whether the AFL and NRL are classified as “major sporting events”, so they may not even come under this rule!

However, I believe it would be to the AFL and NRL’s benefit to slow their competitions during that time, due to the limited number of venues we have in Australia – most of them play host to many sports. There are only so many matches that can be played in Wollongong, Launceston or Geelong in a weekend, and it would be ratings suicide to put games up against World Cup matches.

One example of a suitable arrangement would be two split rounds for the 4 weeks preceding (for a 20 team AFL competition, this would mean 5 matches a weekend), followed by a single round for the five weekends of the WC itself (yes, five – the Cup starts on a Friday, lasts for 31 days, then ends up a Sunday) – so using the same example, 2 AFL matches per weekend.

It appears many in the mainstream media are either uneducated about how it works, or are just keen to try to agitate fans of all codes whenever they see the opportunity.

I guess it sells newspapers!

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