World Footy News

In what is good news for countries that had thought squad sizes for the 2005 Australian Football International Cup would be 35, the AFL has announced squads up to 35 will indeed be allowed. This follows disappointment for those that had named more than the 30 player limit the AFL set in April.

The Australian Football League's Community Development Manager, Ed Biggs, has confirmed that competing nations have been advised that squads up to 35 will be allowed. Each team participating must provide the AFL with their list of at most 35 players no later than 21 days prior to the first scheduled playing day of the competition. A final list must be provided at a meeting on August 2nd, but players not named in the original list 21 days out, will not be eligible.

This will be a great relief to Canada, who had already named 35 players and faced the terrible situation of cutting players who had already arranged to travel. On the flipside, this will add pressure to some countries to fill out their planned squads to ensure they are not disadvantaged at the Cup, although some countries had also been hoping to bring 35 players.