THE AFL has announced a team from India as the latest entrant for in the Australian Football International Cup which is being held in Warrnambool and Melbourne in August, 2008 as part of the 150th year celebrations.
The Indian side joins the likes of USA, South Africa, Canada, Great Britain, Sweden, Denmark, PNG, New Zealand, Japan, China, Ireland, Spain, Nauru, Samoa, Finland, and the Peace Team from Israel and Palestine.
It will be the first time that India has taken part in the International Cup.
AFL talent and international manager Kevin Sheehan said their inclusion was further testimony to the game’s growth.
"Our game of Australian Football is spreading to other countries and the fact that India is taking part this year is a further endorsement of the growing popularity of the game," Sheehan said.
"[AFL] has got a stranglehold in Australia as the number one football code with 638,000 participants and a growing number of players in countries across the globe are now experiencing the game.
"We think the combination of skill, speed, courage, spectacular high marking, brilliant goal kicking and the high scoring makes it the greatest football game on earth and an increasing number of people agree."
Last week, two AFL India board members, Ravinder Chadha and Pranab Bhattacharjee, attended an AFL international coaching course at AFL House with another two Chinese delegates.
AFL in India is just starting to emerge with players having been involved in the game for less than 12 months.
Many of these players have come from other sporting backgrounds such as kabbadi, soccer and cricket. The game has also recently moved into Indian primary schools and India’s population of 1.14 billion now have the opportunity to see three AFL matches a week on television as well as finals.
The game is getting a further boost from Indians who have studied in Australia and returned home with an appreciation for the game.
During his stay in Melbourne Chadha forecast a rapid spread of football throughout India in the next five years.
"I would like to see AFL emerging into other regional competitions in Kolkata, New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai as well as Bangalore and Hyderabad," Chadha said.
"With China and Japan also playing AFL we plan to have challenge matches annually against our nearest AFL neighbours".
"Further down the track, in two to three years, we also aim to have an AFL exhibition or fixtured match played in a venue like Wankhade Stadium in Mumbai or Eden Gardens in Kolkata, both with big enough surfaces and a crowd capacity of up to 100,000 people the potential is enormous".
India has a great affinity and rivalry with Australia through sport, in particular cricket and hockey, and the AFL believes that in time Australian football can be added to the list.
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