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Footy fans have torn into the AFL for making a cringeworthy post featuring Socceroos star Nestory Irankunda, as the league was branded a ‘disgrace’ by one of its stars for refusing to schedule matches around World Cup games.
On Wednesday night, the AFL posted an image of Irankunda celebrating his goal against Turkey by shadow boxing with a corner post, combined with Adelaide Crows star Josh Rachele imitating a boxer after kicking a major.
Many fans saw that as a shameless attempt to cash in on one of the world’s biggest sporting events after the Socceroos’ incredible underdog victory on Sunday.
‘And the award for the most ridiculous comparison goes to the clown town that is the AFL,’ one wrote on X.
‘Nah, you don’t get to try and ride the coattails of this. Not of the game you try to systematically kill at every opportunity outside of a national tournament,’ another commented.
Other fans chipped in with ‘you have no shame’, ‘actually pathetic’, ‘no one cares, mate’ and ‘the AFL is shameless’.
Pictured: The AFL post that was branded ‘pathetic’ by footy fans
The league was accused of trying to ride on the Socceroos’ coattails by using an image of Nestory Irankunda celebrating his brilliant goal against Turkey (pictured)
Pictured: A sample of the angry responses to the ‘cringe’ post
One fan raised the issue of the AFL’s scheduling around the soccer tournament with the comment, ‘Jesus… give it a rest… even your players would have preferred to watch the World Cup than play last Sunday.’
GWS Giants star Jake Stringer agreed with that last remark, and made no bones about it during a TV appearance on Monday night.
The AFL had the Giants play St Kilda while the Socceroos tackled Turkey on Sunday, and the Lions vs Tigers match was also on during the famous win in Vancouver.
That scheduling decision left Stringer furious.
‘It’s a disgrace, honestly,’ he told Channel Nine.
‘Let us watch the Aussies. It’s once every four years.
‘Don’t put the games at the same time.
‘They want the attendance, they want people to watch. No one’s watching the AFL, everyone’s going to watch the World Cup.’
Pictured: One of several responses that accused the AFL of trying to cash in on Australia’s World Cup success
Pictured: Adelaide Crows star Josh Rachele, whose similar goal celebration was highlighted by the AFL
Giants skipper Toby Greene previously called for kickoff in the match against the Saints to be brought forward so fans – and the players – could stick around after fulltime and watch the Socceroos on the stadium’s big screen.
‘I don’t know why they’d even bother trying to compete with it [the Australia vs Turkey match],’ Greene said.
‘Just embrace it and go, right, the Socceroos are playing at 2pm … let’s start the Giants and Saints at 11am and then maybe have a Marvel [Stadium] watch party.
‘I reckon it would’ve been a great idea and everyone would have got around it … I reckon they missed a trick there.’
Greene and Stringer were right about everyone wanting to watch the Socceroos’ first match of the tournament.
Host broadcaster SBS said 4.78 million people tuned in to watch the game, dwarfing the numbers for the day’s AFL matches.
The AFL will have no such worries with the Socceroos’ remaining group-stage matches, which kick off at 5am on Saturday and noon on Friday, June 26.
