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Australian Football International Cup

Current season or competition: 2008 Australian Football International Cup
2008 Tournament Logo
Sport	Australian rules football
Founded	2002
No. of teams	16
Continent	International (AFL)
Most recent champion(s)	Papua New Guinea

The Australian Football International Cup (also known as the AFL International Cup) is an International sport competition in Australian rules football. It is currently co-ordinated by the Australian Football League's game development arm and run every 3 years since 2002.

The tournament is the largest international Australian rules football event and the only one that is open to worldwide senior competition, although Australia (the home and world's strongest nation in the game) does not participate (as it would most likely dominate the competition). Melbourne, Australia has hosted both the 2002 and 2005 tournaments, along with some games in Wangaratta in 2005 and Geelong in 2002. Matches in the 2008 tournament were played in Melbourne, Geelong and Warrnambool.

The inaugural tournament was the 2002 Australian Football International Cup run by the International Australian Football Council under the auspices of the Australian Football League.

The most recent tournament, the 2008 Australian Football International Cup was held in Melbourne, Geelong and Warrnambool in September 2008 with 16 nations competing. After 2008 the AFL intends to resume competition every 4 years.

The Grand Final of each tournament has been held as a curtain raiser to a home-and-away match of the AFL Premiership Season.

Australia is not represented in the tournament; as the only nation where the sport is played professionally, the difference in skill level between an Australian national team and the nearest competitor is currently far too large for any contest to be worthwhile. As such, the tournament is geared towards development of the sport outside Australia and expatriate Australians may not compete.

History of the Cup

When the International Australian Football Council was formed in 1995 one of its aims was to 'establish and promote an official World Cup of Australian Football.' At the time it was thought that 2008, being the 150th anniversary of the game, was the appropriate date.

However, in 1999 a proposal was received from the New Zealand Australian Football League (NZAFL), suggesting that the World Cup be brought forward to 2002. This was accepted by the Council and, following visits to many countries, Brian Clarke drafted a discussion paper and draft regulations for circulation to the various national bodies.

An approach was then made to the AFL, asking for their support in staging the event. The AFL agreed on the basis that the event was renamed the "International Cup". An Organising Committee, chaired by Ed Biggs and including AFL and IAFC representatives, was then appointed.

The inaugural competition was held between August 14 and August 23, 2002 (in conjunction with the International Australian Football Council), with 11 countries competing including Canada, Great Britain, Denmark, Ireland, South Africa, Japan, New Zealand, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and the United States. Ireland defeated Papua New Guinea in the final.

The second Cup was held between August 3 and August 13, 2005 in Australia. Canada, Great Britain, Ireland, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Japan, Samoa, South Africa, Spain and the United States competed. Denmark and Nauru competed in 2002 but withdrew from the 2005 tournament for financial reasons. Papua New Guinea were again runners up, this time defeated by New Zealand by 7.8 (50) to 5.2 (32).

The third Cup was held in August and September, 2008. Sixteen nations competed; all teams from the 2002 competition returned, joined by debutants China, India, Sweden, Finland and the Peres Peace Team (Israel-Palestine). Tonga competed as a seventeenth team, as they were unable to commit to the full draw they played a series of matches against Team Asia and Team Africa, sides drawn from Melbourne's migrant communities.

Results

Year	Host		Final				Third place match
			Winner	Score	Runner-up		3rd place	Score	4th place
2002 Details	Melbourne		Ireland	7.9 (51) - 2.7 (19)	Papua New Guinea		New Zealand	3.7 (25) - 2.4 (16)	Denmark
2005 Details	Melbourne, Wangaratta		New Zealand	7.8 (50) - 5.2 (32)	Papua New Guinea		United States	10.5 (65) - 4.6 (30)	Ireland
2008 Details	Melbourne, Warrnambool		Papua New Guinea	7.12 (54) - 7.4 (46)	New Zealand		South Africa	4.9 (33) - 5.2 (32)	Ireland

Competing Teams , Nicknames & Placings

Flag	Nation	Rep team	2002 (11)	2005 (10)	2008 (16)
	Canada	Northwind	9th	7th	6th
	China	Red Demons	-	-	15th
	Denmark	Vikings	4th	-	11th
	Finland	Icebreakers	-	-	14th
	Great Britain	Bulldogs	6th	6th	9th
	India	Tigers	-	-	16th
	Ireland	Warriors	1st	4th	4th
	Israel-Palestinian Territories	Peres Team for Peace	-	-	13th
	Japan	Samurais	10th	9th	8th
	New Zealand	Falcons	3rd	1st	2nd
	Nauru	Chiefs	8th	-	5th
	Papua New Guinea	Mosquitos	2nd	2nd	1st
	Samoa	Kangaroos	7th	5th	10th
	South Africa	Lions	11th	8th	3rd
	Spain	Bulls	-	10th	-
	Sweden	Elks	-	-	12th
	United States	Revolution	5th	3rd	7th

Overall Tournament Ranking & Statistics

Ranking	Country	#Played	#Won	%Won	#Lost	%Lost	#Drawn	%Drawn
1	New Zealand	17	15		0		0	0%
2	Papua New Guinea	16	14		2		0	0%
3	Ireland	17	12		5		0	0%
4	United States of America	17	11		6		0	0%
5	Samoa	17	9		8		0	0%
6	Great Britain	16	7		9		0	0%
7	Canada	16	6		10		0	0%
7	South Africa	16	6		10		0	0%
9	Nauru	10	5		5		0	0%
9	Denmark	10	5		5		0	0%
11	Japan	16	4		12		0	0%
12	Israel-Palestinian Territories	5	2		3		0	0%
13	Sweden	5	1		4		0	0%
13	Finland	5	1		4		0	0%
13	China	5	1		4		0	0%
16	Spain	5	0		5		0	0%
16	India	5	0		5		0	0%

Placing Rankings

Pos.	Team	1 Gold	2 Silver	3 Bronze
1st	Papua New Guinea	1 (2008)	2 (2002, 2005)
2nd	New Zealand	1 (2005)	1 (2008)	1 (2002)
3rd	Ireland	1 (2002)
4th	United States			1 (2005)
5th	South Africa			1 (2008)

See also

• Australian rules football around the world
• List of Australian rules football leagues outside Australia
• List of International Australian rules football Tournaments
• Australian Football Multicultural Cup
• International Rankings

External links

• Australian Football International Cups - ARI central page for all of the Cups
• Australian Football International Cups - World Footy News central page for all of the Cups
• Australian Football International Cup, 2005 - AFL Page

Video Content

• Video of Aussie Rules from YouTube
• New Zealand's Haka versus Samoan's Siva Tau - Wangaratta - International Cup 2005 from Google Video
• Samoan Siva Tau - International Cup 2005 from Google Video
• Papua New Guinea War Dance - International Cup 2005 from Google Video
• South Africa and Canada post match song from Google Video