Hawthorn President Calls AFL Asian Expansion A 'Waste Of Money'

Australian Football League side Hawthorn President Jeff Kennett refused to let his team play for points in China or India and labeled the AFL's experiment an "absolute waste of money," according to the AAP. Four clubs last week visited India "with a view to staging a game," while Shanghai is set to host its second AFL premiership match in round nine this year. Kennett said, "It will never live in India, it will never live in China. It is just an absolute waste of time and money." The former Victorian premier would "prefer officials stabilise the game at home before all else." He "took issue with minnows" such as St. Kilda "needing league help to balance their books." He said, "Most of the clubs are financially dependent on the AFL to open their doors. For goodness sake, surely we should be concentrating on making the game here self-supporting" (AAP, 3/13).