Soccer World Cup wants AFL to shut down for 8 weeks

[THE EQUALIZER]

I agree with others that the most likely chance of getting the World Cup will be in 2022.

To accomodate the World Cup, our sporting codes will need to get creative as to how they can fit in around it.

My suggestion is a staged change of seasons for the AFL, NRL, A-League, Super Rugby and Cricket around the years of the World Cup.

If Australia hosts the World Cup in 2022, this is how I'd alter the AFL.

In 2020, I'd push the AFL back a month, starting in April running through to October.

In 2021. I'd push the AFL back a further month, starting in May running through to November.

In 2022, I'd start the AFL the week after the completion of the World Cup and finish the season in January. The cricketers can play the Boxing Day Test during their tour of South Africa.

In 2023, the season would run from May to November.

In 2024, everything returns to normal.

This plan would suit everyone and would give the AFL players an adequate off-season. For those worried about playing in summer, it's safe to assume in 10 years time most games will be played at night.

 

[Clay Davis]

2022 in Asia you say?

Do you know where FIFA considers Australia to be?

Proper Asia. Not 'pretending to be Asia because it's convenient' Australia. If one of China or the US bid for 2022 it's theirs, easily.

 

[boric1]

Thank you god.
This means the soccer world cup will never get close to the coast of Australia.
If i want to watch a bunch of blokes in skirts taking dives ill turn on the netball.
F**k off soccer


PS

In 2021. I'd push the AFL back a further month, starting in May running through to November.

That right there is Un-Australian
Everybody knows that its one day in Septmber and that will never change

 

[GoesBangFrom50]

If the played the final in my back yard I wouldnt even bother getting up to pull the curtains back to have a look.

Stand your ground Demetriou

 

[invinciBlues]

I have much more of a problem with the 4 week leadup than the actual time during the WC. Albeit I reckon a 2 week break would suffice.

Etihad should be available to reduce the time out for one of our major venues from 8 weeks to 4 weeks. The compensation for lost gate recepts would be much less if Etihad is available as only the big Vic games are needed for the MCG.

Before I continue, let me say, this is really pie in the sky stuff, but if the AFL play hard ball, its not completely out of the realm of possibility.

But in the long term, the Big 3 could be major winners out of this as we would have world class stadiums with min 40k capacity. That means our home games post-WC would get played there. And thats a big win for tradition.

Princes Park: Capacity 35,000

Requiring the least development to get it to the minimum.

Victoria Park: capacity 27,000

Not a huge leap to the minimum, and the heritage listing might make it difficult, but Collingwood having the sway they do, they could get a ground to hold all there members, + membership growth, + 10-15k for the opposition they host.

Windy Hill: current capacity 15,000

OK. Major redevelopment needed there more-so than VP or PP. But you've got a decade to get it up to scratch. But again, Essendon have sway and could also get a 60k stadium out of it.

 

[billyboutsis]

sad that there is a minority who have their heads so far up their own a$$ses that they cant see this would be the best thing to ever happen to this country.

even sadder that some of you think that by demetriou standing his ground would change anything!!!!

 

[folester41]

if people really think this wont happen they are dillusional, its the FIFA world cup, the second biggest tournament in the world.

if Australia gets the chance to host it you think the AFL will stand in its way?

 

[Redb#]

sad that there is a minority who have their heads so far up their own a$$ses that they cant see this would be the best thing to ever happen to this country.

even sadder that some of you think that by demetriou standing his ground would change anything!!!!

your entitled to your opinion that this would be the best thing that could happen to this country. If your a soccer fan it would be nirvana, if your dyed in the wool Aussie Rules fan it would be a massive disruption unless some compromise is made which in no way would detract from hosting the WC.

 

[strategy]

if people really think this wont happen they are dillusional, its the FIFA world cup, the second biggest tournament in the world.

if Australia gets the chance to host it you think the AFL will stand in its way?

the most $$$$$$ SPONSORED sport in the world is GOLF.

 

[invinciBlues]

That right there is Un-Australian
Everybody knows that its one day in Septmber and that will never change

Collingwood won the flag in 1990, in October. At Waverly.

 

[WA ROO]

No need to worry,no way will Australia get the WC.Blatter and his cronies make the IOC look like rank amatuers in corruption.
Seb will pocket the millions from Rudd and award the games to China.

 

[SaintsManMat]

even if the AFL and NRL agree to not play for the 8 weeks that FIFA demands, whats the chance of a small country that isnt particularly good at soccer, being awarded the world cup?

 

[folester41]

the most $$$$$$ SPONSORED sport in the world is GOLF.

what has that got to do with anything, im talking in terms of viewing audience, and if im not mistaken i think think the world cup actually had more people watching then the olympics, so it could even be number 1.

if your trying to say golf tournaments are even in the top 3 tournaments worldwide then you really are having a laugh. and im a fan of golf, so dont try and say im bias.

 

[TTTT]

if australia gets the world cup then the best thing the afl can do is get a bit of money off the FFA for giving up stadiums and use that money to improve regional football grounds that way afl games can be played on them during World cup.

So in Victoria places like Bendigo, Ballarat, Wangaratta and Shepparton could host Afl games along with Skilled stadium

Just a thought

 

[SaintsSeptember]

if people really think this wont happen they are dillusional, its the FIFA world cup, the second biggest tournament in the world.

if Australia gets the chance to host it you think the AFL will stand in its way?

No you are being delusional. Australia have a chance to bid, this does not make the event likely by any means.
In making the bid, the bidders must ensure they can meet the contitions stipulated by FIFA. Therefore they must strike an agreement with the AFL prior to making the bid.

So if Australia gets the chance to host it the AFL will not stand in its way.
The AFL may very well make it difficult to place the bid in the first place.

I wonder how the tax paying public would feel if the Government announced they were going to spend tax money on booking Ettihad Stadium and the MCG for 14 days without using them.

 

[mickyp]

people cant be serious when they say that we shouldnt have the world cup because its going to ruin one afl season?
i love afl but the fact of the matter is the world cup is the biggest sporting event in the world and that is including the olympics. every main stadium in the australia will be upgraded or new ones will be built, billions of dollars of revenue for our country, and people are saying that the afl should be accomodated for?
soccer is and always will be the number one sport in the world.
demetriou will have close to zero say in what happens. fifa will have complete control if we are given the go ahead to host the cup..which would be the greatest thing for this country!!

 

[Harry Yorkie]

sad that there is a minority who have their heads so far up their own a$$ses that they cant see this would be the best thing to ever happen to this country.

even sadder that some of you think that by demetriou standing his ground would change anything!!!!

Sad, that you think that you will benefit from it at all. Hasn't the USA just gone gangbusters since they hosted the WC, no more poverty, health system the envy of the world, tourism booming, the NFL now a secondary sport as the sleeping giant of soccer takes over etc etc.

 

[billyboutsis]

congratulations...you are the d1ckhead of the day. feel free to collect your prize whenever.

 

[SaintsSeptember]

people cant be serious when they say that we shouldnt have the world cup because its going to ruin one afl season?
i love afl but the fact of the matter is the world cup is the biggest sporting event in the world and that is including the olympics. every main stadium in the australia will be upgraded or new ones will be built, billions of dollars of revenue for our country, and people are saying that the afl should be accomodated for?
soccer is and always will be the number one sport in the world.
demetriou will have close to zero say in what happens. fifa will have complete control if we are given the go ahead to host the cup..which would be the greatest thing for this country!!

So if they wanted to tear down your house and take away your children as part of it they could do it without your consent could they?
The AFL has the legal rights as stated in contracts.
In making a bid the bidding body must ensure that the AFL will agree to forgoing those rights or they are basically promising something they are not legally entitled to promise.

 

[McCrann]

Why all the outrage? We can just scrap the NAB cup and start the season 4 weeks earlier. Cut out the weeks break and you gain another week. So we are left with a season only going 3 weeks longer in total then a regular season. Tack a week or 2 on the start or end or perhaps have a grassroots round in the middle at suburban grounds and you're easily covered.

The World Cup would encourage significant upgrades of the stadiums by the government, which can only be a positive for the AFL.

I can't see any negatives whatsoever or why we should be inflexible?

They are already set to scrap the NAB Cup after 2011 - if not after next year.

 

[vapid1]

I would HAPPILY give up 8 weeks of AFL for the World Cup to come to our shores. We are talking about the biggest sporting event in the world here people.

 

[folester41]

No you are being delusional. Australia have a chance to bid, this does not make the event likely by any means.
In making the bid, the bidders must ensure they can meet the contitions stipulated by FIFA. Therefore they must strike an agreement with the AFL prior to making the bid.

So if Australia gets the chance to host it the AFL will not stand in its way.
The AFL may very well make it difficult to place the bid in the first place.

I wonder how the tax paying public would feel if the Government announced they were going to spend tax money on booking Ettihad Stadium and the MCG for 14 days without using them.

did i say we are going to get it?

i think its ridiculous that a country that is so poor at football should be able to host it. but obviously they have either struck up an agreement or are confident the AFL will oblige otherwise they wouldnt be lodging the bid in the coming weeks.

i can see the major stadiums doing their best to accomodate the world cup over the AFL because of how much revenue they will generate in doing so.

 

[Freo Big Fella]

The ball is really in the FFA's court here. If they approach the AFL and NRL and work out an adequate compensatory arrangement, then Vlad and Gallup will probably bitch and moan a bit before taking their cheques and shutting up.

If they're stupid enough to go down the route of legal action or requesting the government legislate to support them (which seems to be what a lot of Soccer fans want Buckley to do), then both the major codes would go straight for the lawyers and ultimately kill the bid through negative publicity.

Anyway, it's all a moot point really - we'll probably lose out to England in 2018 and the yanks in 2022. We're simply in the wrong timezone for the bulk of FIFA's desired TV audience.

2022 in Asia you say?

Do you know where FIFA considers Australia to be?

Whilst your faith in the AFC is touching, anybody who thinks they'd back an Australian bid over a Chinese bid needs their head read.

 

[mickyp]

So if they wanted to tear down your house and take away your children as part of it they could do it without your consent could they?
The AFL has the legal rights as stated in contracts.
In making a bid the bidding body must ensure that the AFL will agree to forgoing those rights or they are basically promising something they are not legally entitled to promise.

yeah because we can all see demetriou rejecting the offer..if fifa says we have won the rights to the world cup..guess what..afl is going to have to stop for 8 weeks. !! the world cup has the full support of the government already so if it gets the go ahead then its going to happen whether all you soccer haters like it or not.
and apart from diehard afl supporters we all know that most people would jump at the opportunity to host the world cup.

 

[Underdog]

The ball is really in the FFA's court here. If they approach the AFL and NRL and work out an adequate compensatory arrangement, then Vlad and Gallup will probably bitch and moan a bit before taking their cheques and shutting up.

Is compensation such a big factor? There will be nothing stopping the AFL from having a full season.

Anyway, it's all a moot point really - we'll probably lose out to England in 2018 and the yanks in 2022. We're simply in the wrong timezone for the bulk of FIFA's desired TV audience.

South Korea and Japan went alright.

Whilst your faith in the AFC is touching, anybody who thinks they'd back an Australian bid over a Chinese bid needs their head read.

Considering that South Korea/Japan was so recent and they are neighbours of China, they may look to a different region of Asia.