Rival international tournament planned for 2008
- Thursday, March 24 2005 @ 01:43 am ACDT
- Contributed by: Brett Northey
- Views: 3,757

Welcome to World Footy News Wednesday, July 02 2025 @ 03:56 pm ACST
The greatest growth in international Australian Rules Football in recent years has been in the island countries surrounding Australia. Their location makes this no surprise, but until the 1990s, there was no real sign of the developments to come. Now two strong countries have emerged, with New Zealand and Papua New Guinea numbers exploding, and several new nations have begun the struggle to establish the sport.
The trend of international footy leagues to tweak their system continues in Denmark for the 2005 season as the DAFL has again slightly remodelled its restructure of two years ago.
The new system includes a five-team premier league, with clubs supported by their own local leagues, similar to the 'metro' competitions in the USA.
Greece have won the Australian Football Multicultural Cup for 2005, defeating traditional rivals Turkey by 14 points in the final. Eight sides, representing Melbourne's Croatian, Turkish, Greek, Vietnamese, Italian, Israeli, Lebanese and Aboriginal communities were on show, with the day held in great spirits in keeping with Harmony Day.