Australian Football International (AFI), is a world development body for the sport of

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

. The organisation has developed a version of the sport known as Footy 9s that it claims will support global expansion of Australian rules football, and lead to it becoming an Olympic sport. The AFI hosts and supports Aussie rules matches in various countries, with the nine-a-side sport played on

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

and gridiron pitches, with both

contact Contact may refer to: Interaction Physical interaction * Contact (geology), a common geological feature * Contact lens or contact, a lens placed on the eye * Contact sport, a sport in which players make contact with other players or objects * C ...

and non-contact versions of the game. It has also developed the Australian Football Harmony Cup, which has been played annually in Melbourne since 2010 between teams from migrant communities. In January 2018, AFI held its inaugural "United Nations of Footy" march as part of the

Australia Day Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove and raising of the Union Flag by Arthur Phillip following days of exploration of Port ...

Parade in Melbourne, with participants wearing football jerseys representing their country to "celebrate diversity and harmony." Australian Football International's headquarters are in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...

, Australia. AFI's CEO is Brian Clarke and its board includes high-profile former AFL players

Ron Barassi Ronald Dale Barassi Jr. (born 27 February 1936) is a former Australian rules footballer, coach and media personality. Regarded as one of the most important figures in the history of the game, Barassi was the first player to be inaugurated into ...

Allen Aylett Allen James Aylett OBE (24 April 1934 – 16 September 2022) was an Australian rules football player and administrator. He was the chairman/president of the North Melbourne Football Club from 1971 to 1976, and then again from 2001 to 2005. In b ...

and Brian Dixon. The organisation has no official relationship with the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling ...

, which has hosted its own shortened variation of the sport

AFLX AFLX is a variation of Australian rules football designed in 2017 to be played on a football pitch (significantly smaller than the Australian rules football playing field), unlike the full 18-a-side game or the established variant for rectangu ...

References

External links

*{{Official website, http://aflinternational.com/ Australian rules football governing bodies Organisations based in Melbourne 2005 establishments in Australia

See also

References

External links