IAFC unveils new international policy
- Tuesday, December 07 2004 @ 01:14 am ACDT
- Contributed by: Brett Northey
- Views: 5,032
The International Australian Football Council has released details of a major overhaul of its structure, staffing, constitution and position in relation to the AFL and the AFL's stated position as world governing body. The following article is a release from the IAFC staff, as listed on their website. In the interests of transparency, please note that the author of this World Footy News story was heavily involved in the IAFC re-structure. Whilst I would prefer to be completely independent, international Australian football is still relatively small, so overlap is inevitable. I make it my highest priority to be unbiased. If anyone ever has any doubts about that, please contact me to discuss, as I would hate the credibility of this news service to be compromised.
Update: by early 2005 my views regarding the current incarnation of the IAFC had changed and I resigned my position and no longer advocate for them, nor support all the statements made below. It had become clear that the so-called IAFC was effectively not the same body as the original one, as member countries no longer supported it and had attempted to wind it up (whether that was done completely in a technical sense is debated but all our sources have confirmed it was a unanimous decision). What I had been lead to believe was the same IAFC was not supported by any countries with football leagues, not democratic (run by one self-appointed person) and not transparent in its deailngs, even with its own small number of volunteers.
Update: by 2006 all pretence of an existing IAFC appears to have been ended, hopefully closing an ugly and distracting chapter in Australian footy's attempts at internationalising.
Aisake O’hAilpin (pictured, courtesy of Carlton FC) was officially placed on AFL club Carlton's international rookie list today. The young Irishman joins his brother Setanta, who has spent much of the past year on the list and is expected to step up to senior level sometime in 2005. Aisake has been given Anthony Franchina's old number 45. Franchina has been a great friend of Setanta in his stay at Carlton. 
These days plenty of expatriate Australians can claim to have played Australian football in more than one country, such as Australia and somewhere else. But few people have had the opportunity to play in established leagues in two countries, neither of which were the game's original home. Irishman John Enright is one such player, having grown up in Ireland, spent a year playing in the Ontario AFL in Canada, and now with a year under his belt with Leeside in the Irish league. worldfootynews.com thought John might have some unique insight into the state of the game in the two countries, and was pleased to interview this well-travelled football player. 
It's exciting to report the first true international tour by a Tongan representative side. After their successful first season of schoolboys footy in the Kingdom, their best side has been selected and will travel to nearby Samoa, to take on their arch rivals. 
The USAFL works with Macquarie Univsersity (in New South Wales, Australia) and AFL club Essendon (in Melbourne) to provide two scholarships each year for promising players to travel to Australia and play at a higher level. The 2005 winners have been announced. 
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