Port Adelaide have the backing of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and AFL chief Gillon McLachlan as they attempt to play a game for premiership points in China in 2017.
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Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who is on a trade visit to China, was also on hand for the announcement and revealed his interest in the game that had gone unnoticed until now.
Despite his rugby union roots, Turnbull named AFL “the most exciting football code”.
Port Adelaide said it would not sacrifice a home game at the Adelaide Oval to play offshore.
A memorandum of understanding has been signed between the Power, the AFL and the club’s new partner Shanghai Cred Real Estate.
McLachlan praised the “vision” of Port Adelaide president David Koch and CEO Keith Thomas for pushing the match and said all worldwide development money for Chinese expansion would be channelled through the club.
On Tuesday the club signed a multi-million-dollar partnership with Shanghai Cred.
It is believed the game will be played during next season’s bye round, and not count as a Port Adelaide home game.
Television network Chinese Central TV (CCTV) will broadcast three Port Adelaide games in China, along with a 25-week documentary series as well.
The AFL’s next hurdle for making the Shanghai dream a reality is to secure a venue, with turf consultants deployed to examine the surface at Shanghai Stadium, which has a capacity of 80,000.
Producing an AFL game in Shanghai would present a major logistical challenge to the AFL, given it lies 7,500 kilometers away from Adelaide.
“We have one of the greatest teams of all time in the Brisbane Lions, who are now just struggling because they can’t get support”.
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“The AFL will work with Port Adelaide to explore all available options to take a first game for premiership points into China”, McLachlan said. The first premiership match outside Australia was a clash between Sydney and St Kilda in New Zealand in 2013.
