AFL in Shanghai
Last weekend, if you happened to watch Port Adelaide beat the Gold Coast in the AFL, you may have noticed something odd about the ground. Rather than playing at Adelaide Oval or Metricon Stadium, the two teams were facing off in Jiangwan Stadium in Shanghai, China.
A game in China last year marked the start of the AFL’s plan to play one game a year in Shanghai as a way to spread the game into Asia. But given that Trade Minister Steven Ciobo was sitting in the stands, the game also acted as a political event – a way for Australian and Chinese politicians to meet and foster good relations between the two countries.
To discuss AFL in Shanghai and sports diplomacy, The Daily‘s Sam Baran was joined by Damien Spry, Honorary Associate at the University of Sydney.
