Sakiko Murakami from Japan Mirais loves to play footy and help womans footy grow in Japan. Sakiko tells us about her journey of discovering Aussie Rules in Japan to her love of AFLW. It is great to hear Sakiko talk with so much passion and love for Aussie Rules.

David and Paul Symons join Aussie Rules the World Podcast to discuss the 2024 AFL India Nationals.

World Footy News is teaming up with Aussie Rules the World Podcast this year to bring you more footy content from around the world. This week's guest is the AFL Pakistan's Chaman Mushtaq.

This week's show recaps footy scores and news from matches played last weekend all around the world, including from the USA, England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Austria, Poland, Austria, PNG, Vietnam, Indonesia and China.

In the wake of turbulent pandemic-induced isolation and geopolitical unease the topic of the cultural relationship between Japan and Australia remains an intriguing sub-issue that has arguably only scratched the surface of its potential, despite the now 70 years of formally re-established relations and centuries of informal ties.

While the mostly staid and rigidly defined roles of trade and military might have defined the prominent narrative of how countries act, it is the altogether unsophisticated yet labyrinthine expressions of society (food, art, sport) that really explain how we get along...or don’t. Some of them are a bit more interesting or unusual than others.

We recap last weekends footy results and news from around the world, we also catch up on the scores from the 49th Parallel Cup and the AFL London Grand Finals. Scores this week from USAFL, AFL Canada, AFL Europe, AFL PNG, AFL Asia.

A smidgen or a glimpse of some Good News for Footy? 

Trawling Footy websites to see how teams ,clubs, leagues and nations are coping with or surviving the shut down of sport and footy because of the Covid 19 pandemic and have come across a couple of situations where planning for a reopening of footy is being seriously considered.

AFL Japan are looking to restart with the following matches scheduled for late September - Eastern Hawks v Tokyo Goannas and Senshu Powers v Tokyo Bay Suns.

No actual date is set as yet as an early September start may be on the cards if health authorities lift restrictions in August or earlier. AFL Japan have ruled out an August start as they feel hot weather/temperature may impact too severely thru lack of training.

AFL Vietnam are about to start training in June with sessions in Hanoi on Saturdays, 10am at Phuc Xa Football Field and in Saigon also on Saturdays, 10am at Salo Fields, District 2. AFL Vietnam also indicate that initial planning is underway for several events later in the second half of the year.

When Port Adelaide Powers’ president David Koch loosely indicated last week that the AFL’s China experiment may be over, the theory became the catalyst for some lively debate in recent days.

When interviewed by The Adelaide Advertiser, Koch did not say that the experiment was over. However, he did express doubt over Port Adelaide’s role in future Chinese fixtures.

He told the newspaper, ““I’ve actually got no idea (how that will look)…We will discuss with the AFL, State and Federal governments and our partners who support us in China about the future of it.”

He went on to add, ““Our whole China strategy originally was not predicated on having a game. We’ll have to assess that coming out (of the pandemic) but at the moment, in terms of priorities, it’s not a massive priority for us to make a decision on.