The International Australian Football Council (IAFC) was a body established in 1995 to govern the sport of Australian rules football internationally. It was established by a small number of amateur football bodies.
The Australian Rules Football League of Ireland (ARFLI) is an Australian rules football competition and is the governing body of Australian Football in Ireland. Ireland is ranked the number three country in Australian football outside of Australia despite having a smaller league than some of its lower-ranked competitors <http://www.worldfootynews.com/staticpages/index.php/World_Rankings>. Ireland has been a competitor and finalist in all AFL International Cups and a winner twice. The success of the Irish team has commonly been attributed to the ease at which Gaelic footballers adapt to the Australian football because of certain similarities between the two codes.
Australian rules football is a sport played in many countries around the world at amateur level only. In 2016, about 106,000 people played in structured competitions outside of Australia and at least 20 leagues that are recognised by the game's governing body, exist outside Australia. In 2007 there was a total of 34,845 players. In contrast, there are over 800,000 players in Australia where the game is at its strongest; overseas players make up less than 2% of the total players worldwide.
Women's Australian rules football, also known simply as women's football or women's footy, is a form of Australian rules football played by women, generally with some modification to the laws of the game.
Nine-a-side football is a sport based on Australian rules football played informally by Aussie rules clubs but not yet an official sport in its own right.
Australian rules football is a rapidly growing sport in Canada. Australian football is currently played in six Canadian provinces - Ontario, Alberta, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec and British Columbia. Saskatchewan is in the formative stages of development. The Ontario league, centred on Toronto but also including sides from cities as far afield as Guelph, Hamilton and Ottawa, is considered the largest league outside Australia. In western Canada, there are clubs in Edmonton, Calgary and a six-team league in the Vancouver area.
Australian rules football in the United States is a fast-growing team and spectator sport which has been played domestically in the United States since 1996. There are numerous leagues around the country, a national championship, a national men's team, a national women's team and a national youth team. There are also women's teams, junior teams, modified Australian Football games and non-contact versions such as Footy 7s.
Australian rules football in England is a team sport and spectator sport with a long history and has grown since 1989 to a number of local and regional leagues coordinated by AFL England. In 2018, these regional divisions were the AFL London, AFL Central & Northern England and Southern England AFL.
AFL South Africa is the governing body and federation for Australian rules football in South Africa. Aussie Rules as is known in Australia pride itself in South Africa as an all-inclusive sport accommodating people of any form of background or affiliation.
Australian rules football in South Africa is a fast-growing team sport, having grown in participation by 160% between 2005–07.
Australian rules football in Ireland is a recently introduced team sport but the country has a long history of interaction with Australian rules leagues.
Australian rules football in Africa is only played at an organised level in South Africa, although there are programs under development in Ghana, Kenya, Botswana and Zimbabwe, and there have been attempts to introduce the sport in other African nations.
Australian rules football in Oceania is the sport of Australian rules football as it is watched and played in the Oceanian continent.
Australian Rules Football has been played as an organised sport in Asia since the late 1980s with teams based in Australian expatriate communities and around universities, such as in Tokyo, Japan. Before this time, only informal matches had been played in some countries, the majority involving Australian servicemen, such as a 1941 game held in Port Dickson, British Malaya. The first international games in Asia started in the early 1990s Since the 1990s footy in the region has boomed with AFL Clubs developing in most Asian countries. Played mainly by expatriate Australians, however in some countries such as Japan, China and Indonesia there is a large portion of locals in the playing base.
Australian rules football is played in Europe at an amateur level in a large number of countries. The oldest and largest leagues are those in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Denmark, each nation having a number of clubs, organised junior programs and women's football. The British AFL has now dramatically expanded into the Welsh, Scottish and English leagues. The Danish AFL has been responsible for the expansion of Australian Football into Sweden, Finland, Iceland and Norway. The governing body for Australian Football in Europe was founded in Frankfurt in January 2010; the body was initially called the European Australian Football Association, but changed its name to AFL Europe at a general assembly meeting in Milan in October of the same year. It currently has 19 member nations. AFL Europe, with backing of the AFL in Australia has overseen a large improvement in the organisation of Australian football in Europe.
Australian rules football in the Middle East describes the minority sport of Australian rules football as it is watched and played in the Middle East region.
Mtutuzeli Hlomela is the captain of the South African national Australian rules football team (Buffaloes) and since 2005 head coach of AFL South Africa and is of the most successful Aussie Rules players/coaches to come out of South Africa.
Variations of Australian rules football are games or activities based on or similar to the game of Australian rules football, in which the player uses common Australian rules football skills. They range in player numbers from 2 up to the minimum 38 required for a full Australian rules football.
AFL Europe is the regional governing body for Australian rules football in Europe. As of 2018, it organises the AFL Europe Championship and the Euro Cup, and previously managed the European Legion representative team as well being responsible for the organisation of the ANZAC Cup, Fitzpatrick Cup and AFL Europe Champions League.
Australian Football International (AFI), is a world development body for the sport of Australian rules football. The organisation has developed a version of the sport known as Footy 9s that it claims will support global expansion of Australian rules football, and lead to it becoming an Olympic sport.
