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AFL labelled as 'petty and insecure' after odd response to Socceroos World Cup game against Argentina

AFL labelled as 'petty and insecure' after odd response to Socceroos World Cup game against Argentina

The AFL has been accused of trying to steal the spotlight from the Socceroos by posting the round 1 fixture list during the World Cup game.

Jayden Collins

Jayden Collins

With Aussie sports fans across the country tuning in to see the Socceroos take on Argentina in the World Cup the AFL clearly wasn’t happy not having the spotlight.

In an odd move from the sporting organisation the AFL decided that kick-off of the Round of 16 matchup was the time to release their round one fixtures for 2023.

I mean, 6 am on Sunday morning is always known as prime time to make an announcement.

Seemingly quite bothered that all eyes were on Australia’s national football team rather than the AFL, the organisation made a desperate grab at attention.

Aussie sports broadcaster Daniel Grab called the move ‘petty and insecure’ and slammed the organisation for misreading the situation.

According to Fox Sports, journalist Caroline Wilson believed the move showed disrespect to the football team.

Wilson said on ABC’s Offsiders: “It’s really interesting to watch the response from the other codes, and, you know, the story was 10, 20 years ago when Australia failed in World Cups, AFL and NRL broke out the Champagne.

“I thought the response this morning to release the round one fixture of the AFL 2023 season was just lame of the AFL to release it today.

“I would have just given them a bit of clean air today. I thought that was disappointing by the AFL.”

The general consensus online wasn’t any more forgiving.

ABC’s Evan Morgan Grahame quipped: “Oh was there a game of kicky-soccer this morning? I didn’t notice, as I was up at 5:30 am reading the AFL round 1 fixture (???)”

Football agent Lou Sticca wrote: “We (Australian Football) will release our A-League fixtures when the AFL are next involved representing Australia on the World stage!”

Broadcaster Georgie Parker said: “Lol at the AFL. Giving me serious ‘ex-partner putting up a selfie and a motivational quote hoping their ex sees it when really they’re off living their best life, and probably has already unfollowed them’ vibes.”

Meanwhile, 9News reporter Josh Money posted a picture of the turnout to watch the World Cup game at Adelaide Oval.

He joked: “Still buzzing at the turnout for this morning’s AFL Round 1 fixture reveal.”

Yep, the AFL well and truly copped it.

SPORTbible reached out to the AFL for comment.

Featured Image Credit: Benjamin Crone / Alamy. Richard Milnes / Alamy.

Topics: Australia, Australia Afl, Aussie Rules Football, Football, Football World Cup

Jayden Collins is a Journalist at SPORTbible. He has worked across multiple media platforms in areas such as sport, music, pop culture, entertainment and politics. He is part of the editorial team for LADbible Australia.