World Footy News

Following on from our story on Sunday, Times are changing - clubs fight over South Africa, it now appears possible that the AFL will stage two pre-season matches outside Australia in 2009. These may be NAB Cup or NAB Regional Challenge matches.

Vying for a spot alongside South Africa is the USA and India. A USA match would coincide with the country's G'day USA festival, with Lauderhill the likely venue. Potential Indian venues are in Mumbai (Bombay) and Bengaluru (Bangalore) - the country's most and third-most populous cities respectively. Apparently Bengaluru is firming as the preferred Indian venue due to its more pleasant climate.

Andrew Demetriou, who made the revelations, seemed to be pleased with the results of last year's Dubai match, which brought together Australian business, government and much of the expatriate community.