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Standing up for your own football code is understandable, and sometimes justified, particularly if people are saying things that aren’t true about your favourite sport.
But the FFA’s recent decision to bid to host a football World Cup in Australia has generated a lot of controversy and a lot of public debate.
The pro-football lobby has seen it as a tremendous opportunity for the country as a whole, and the stance of the NRL and AFL as unsporting and selfish.
The anti-football lobby on the other hand has portrayed the FFA and football supporters as arrogant and incompetent, and trying to disrupt not only their footy season, but their Australian way of life.
Whichever side you support, one of the major impacts of the debates has been to polarise sports followers and to deepen their loyalties and harden their prejudices.
Another way this has caused harm is to alienate those sports followers who are likely to follow or attend games from more than one code. For example, there are a number of AFL followers, particularly in Victoria, who would also watch the occasional football game.
Conversely the football followers who watch the occasional rugby league or AFL game may have been offended enough to not want to support the rival codes any more.
This has impacted both the following and profitability of those sports.
In my case, I have attended a few rugby league games and the NRL grand final a couple of times over the years. I have also gone along to a few Swans games and watched the occasional Swans match on TV.
This is mainly down to my three brothers-in-law, who originated from Adelaide and are AFL mad. Since moving to Sydney, they have dragged me along kicking and screaming to the Swans games and to my wife’s dismay, the AFL is always on the TV whenever we go around for a social gathering.
But I have already told them that due to the AFL’s tough stance on the football World Cup and comments by Demetriou and others about the FFA, FIFA and football in general, I will not be going to any more Swans games or giving the AFL or its sponsors any of my support.
I’m sure there are many other cross coders who feel the same about these controversies and the overall affect has been to polarise those groups even more and water down the broader domestic support of those football codes.
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