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AFL season scare

By Mr Dandalooa

There are fears that a whole AFL season could be swept to the side if the MCG, the nation’s biggest stadium, was unavailable for 16 weeks during a soccer World Cup in Australia.

And AFL kingpin Andrew Demetriou says some clubs could “cease to exist” if the historic ground was decommissioned for that period of time.

MCG boss Stephen Gough has frantically urged Football Federation Australia to say exactly what it requires from the stadium in its tilt for either the 2018 or 2022 World Cup bid, saying the ground was in the dark about organisers possibly requiring exclusive access to the stadium for four months.

FootyGoss understands that the MCG had not been given any concrete timeframe from bid organisers about the length of time the stadium would be needed to prepare it for a World Cup.

If the MCG was out of action, Demetriou reckons “it would probably mean we would have to cancel the season”.

“You can’t move the season to January because it’s out of ratings period, you’ve got cricket, it’s hot, it just doesn’t work,” he had said.

“We’ve even toyed with the possibility of actually suspending the season for four weeks. That can work. It’s not easy, but it can work.”

Demetriou said the AFL was trying to find ways to accommodate the World Cup but the “sorts of questions we’ve been asking the FFA” haven’t had much come back the other way.

If the season was cancelled in an unprecedented move, it could wreak havoc on the AFL, broadcast agreements, team revenues, members, and corporate partners.

The whole exercise could cost the league hundreds of millions of dollars, not to mention potential litigation from advertisers, corporate sponsors or TV stations.

“And secondly, it would probably mean some clubs which rely on the $7 million or $8 million dollar distribution from the AFL, there’s no way they could be sustained,” the AFL boss said.

Gough said the MCG had been left in the dark, although he conceded the AFL needed to have discussions with FFA first.

But he said there was a level of urgency.

FootyGoss also understands that the MCG may have to undergo some alterations to suit a rectangular configuration to host soccer matches, which could increase the number of seating.

FFA chieftain Ben Buckley has denied the MCG would not be out of action for 16 weeks, saying there were “some complex issues that have to be worked through”.