Australian Football League Commission Rules Out Major Changes To Game

The Australian Football League commission "has ruled that the game must stay much the same as it is now in a charter that seeks to preserve the way the country’s indigenous football code must be played into the future," according to Patrick Smith of THE AUSTRALIAN. A nine-point charter, drawn up following more than 16 months of debate, research and discussion, "stipulates the qualities and philosophy that the commission believes are intrinsic to the game." It "will reassure traditionalists." It is "the most important document to control the style and rules of AFL football since Tom Wills helped draw up the first laws of the game in 1859." The charter urges that the “traditional characteristics” of the game be protected, which it is believed covers the "scoring system, number of players on the ground and the oval ball" (THE AUSTRALIAN, 6/3).