AFL Chief Executive Gillon McLachlan today welcomed the historic agreement between the Port Adelaide Football Club and new partner Shanghai CRED.

Alongside the Prime Minister of Australia, the Honourable Malcolm Turnbull, and Port Adelaide chief executive Keith Thomas, Mr McLachlan confirmed the AFL’s commitment to support the development of Australian football in the world’s most populous country in Shanghai today.

“The AFL is proud to be joining the Port Adelaide Football Club in laying the foundations for the development of Australian football in China,” Mr McLachlan said.

“Port Adelaide, through the efforts of chairman David Koch and chief executive Keith Thomas, has taken giant strides over the past four years in rebuilding the club’s position and profile within our competition.

“The club has now taken another significant step forward with its move into China, further expanding its supporter base and increasing the wider exposure of the club and our game beyond Australia.

“The club has committed to supporting school and university programs in Shanghai and Guangzhou, along with current AFL programs in China.

“The agreement also supports television programming targeted at educating Chinese viewers about Australian football. 

“With one of the world’s biggest economies and a population base of more than 1.3 billion people, developing our game in China opens up incredible opportunities.”

Mr. McLachlan said the AFL was also keen to work towards holding a game in Shanghai during the Toyota Premiership season.  

“We have been working behind the scenes on what needs to be done to hold a premiership match in Shanghai,” Mr McLachlan said.

“We are very excited to be working with Government, Tourism Australia and the Port Adelaide Football Club on the opportunity to bring our great game to Shanghai.

“There is still a lot of work to be done, and finding a suitable venue that can cater for an AFL match is the big challenge.

“This is an historic announcement, and the AFL looks forward to a deepening relationship between our game and China.”