With the AFL's recent push into the South Pacific region we've heard less out of South Africa, but development work continues there and recently an Australian School Boy side toured the country.

The All-Australian team (minus South Australia and Tasmania) met in January for a pre-season training camp in Perth before setting off for South Africa.

Media and public speculation seem to have forced North Melbourne's hand in detailing reasons for his suspension announced today. The initial tactic of trying to protect Daw by giving almost no details has backfired with forums and news/sports station being innundated by suggestions as to what Daw's actions may have been.

The following statement is a press release from North Melbourne coach Brad Scott;

“Our main focus is to support Majak wholly and we take his welfare very seriously.  The statement we released was generic for a reason, to attempt to protect Majak.  There were no lies told, there was no cover up.  I’m now being forced to clarify that statement because of disappointing rumours and innuendo.

Promising Sudanese rookie Majak Daw has been suspended indefinitely for breaching North Melbourne's team rehabilitation protocols and behaving in a manner unbefitting of the club’s culture and expectations.

North’s new leadership group has determined Majak will train with VFL affiliate Werribee Tigers until further notice. The club would not detail Daw's breaches and says it is not in a position to elaborate.

CEO Eugene Arocca and chief of football Donald McDonald spoke today at the Kensington Boxing Gym today, but gave no further details of the breaches. Daw was not present. The video of the press interview can be seen below.

Several years ago AFL South Africa established their base at Senwes Park (formerly Sedgars Park) in Potchefstroom.  In summer it's used for cricket and in winter for Aussie Rules (or FootyWILD as it's known there), just like hundreds (maybe even thousands) of grounds across Australia.

But it still no doubt comes as a surprise to Australia's top cricketers when they find themselves looking at AFL merchanise when they arrive at Senwes Park for a tour match.  Brydon Coverdale wrote about the ground and the growth of Australian football in South Africa in a recent article for Cricinfo, which covers cricket around the world.

See Australian rules in South Africa.

Essendon player Andrew Welsh will make his big screen debut at this year’s Melbourne International Film Festival, featuring in the arthouse film Falling for Sahara premiering this Friday.   Directed by Khoa Do, Falling for Sahara follows the lives of three young African refugees living in Melbourne’s inner-west, who share a passion for Australian Rules football.

An initiative of the Bill Hutchison Foundation and supported by the Essendon Football Club, Falling for Sahara aims to highlight the migration challenges faced by youth from multicultural backgrounds.  The romantic drama features a cast of African-Australian actors and newly arrived refugees from Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan and Somalia and reflects the role sport can play in promoting social cohesion in the community.

North Melbourne listed, Sudanese born Majak Daw was the subject of racial abuse as he played for Werribee in the VFL last week at Port Melbourne.  The spectator who yelled the racial abuse at Daw was escorted from the ground and has since been banned from attending matches.  Daw was upset and felt marginalised by the abuse and subsequently won support from not only his team mates but the whole football community.  While this sort of abuse has been around  for a very long time, the current attitude is that it is not acceptable and will be acted on to stamp it out immediately, as happened in this case. 

And while players in the past just had to put up with it now they are encouraged to speak up about it.  Majak's reaction to the event was sought by media outlets across Melbourne this week.  The Youtube video below sees Majak interviewed by 3AW's talkback host Neil Mitchell.

We've had some comments and links regarding Ugandan sensation Emmanuel Irra but it's worth noting his rise as a separate article.  He first came to our attention last year as a 16 year old when he was selected for the World XVIII to compete in the NAB AFL Under 16s.

Irra made his league debut for South Adelaide a few weeks ago, a remarkable effort at 17 years of age, with only a brief history in the game.  Irra is playing some exciting footy and must surely be on the cusp of being drafted into the AFL.  With so many young African immigrants in Adelaide playing soccer Irra's success could be a strong positive for footy winning over the next generation.  And of course if he makes it to the AFL he could have a similar national significance, as well as continue to highlight the benefits for the AFL of a push into Africa.

Some of his highlights have been posted on Youtube:

[youtube:WCbotEmbbkA&feature=player_detailpage]

Brian Clarke, General Manager of Aussie Rules International, has announced that a proposal for ARI to stage an exhibition match between a South African side and an Australian Indigenous side at the 2011 All-Africa Games in Maputo, Mozambique has been accepted by the Games organisers.

The match is planned to take place in the first week of the All-Africa Games (also referred to as the African Games), which will start on the 3rd of September, and would be played in the National Stadium in the Mozambican capital, which has a spectator capacity of 42,000.

When contacted for comment by WFN, Mr Clarke said that ARI is currently seeking sponsors for the project, but he is confident that the required funds will be secured.

Mr Clarke declined to give details on who would be playing, managing or coaching the sides in the match, although he stated that he is currently in contact with a number of different organisations in Australia to select an Australian Indigenous team, and that the South African side would be selected next month.

When contacted by WFN, AFL South Africa operations manager Joel Kelly indicated that the AFLSA is not in any way connected with the All-Africa Games project.

The match has received some coverage in the mainstream Australian media, including this article in Melbourne's The Age newspaper, and this article on Fox Sports.

"His improvement's been extraordinary. I look at him six months ago and I would have thought he was miles away from being able to play AFL footy, but his improvement was so rapid that we gave him an opportunity in the NAB Cup and he performed quite well in there. If he continues to improve at that rate then he'll be a pretty handy AFL player," Scott said.

See more in North Melbourne coach Brad Scott rules out Majak Daw debut against Richmond.