Port Adelaide could play AFL games in China in 2022, says Andrew Hunter

The man who led Port Adelaide’s push into China says the AFL could return to Shanghai in 2022, and there's good reasons why.

Port Adelaide could return to China to play AFL as soon as 2022, the prime mover behind the club’s push into the global superpower says.

Andrew Hunter, who spearheaded the Power’s China strategy for five years, believes an AFL return to Shanghai could help repair Australia’s fracturing relationship with the world’s most populous country.

Mr Hunter, also an international adviser to former SA premier Jay Weatherill, said football could be “an important piece in the broader national engagement of China” and a game 2022 was is conceivable.

“That would be an ambitious time frame, but indicate a strong and long-term commitment from Port Adelaide and the AFL,” he said.

“And 2022 is the year of the Winter Olympics, in which ideas of sport and diplomacy will be much discussed, and perhaps a propitious moment for the governments of Australia and China to extend an olive branch.”

Players line up for the national anthem during last year’s match between St Kilda and Port Adelaide at Jiangwan Stadium, Shanghai. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos

The Australia-China relationship has deteriorated after Canberra pushed for an inquiry into coronavirus origins and barred tech giant Huawei from the NBN and 5G over security concerns.

In response, Beijing has threatened trade bans and increased tariffs on Aussie goods, placing billions of export dollars in jeopardy.

Mr Hunter was general manager of China engagement as Port Adelaide created history in 2017 when it played Gold Coast for premiership points Shanghai - the first regular season game in China for any major western sporting competition.

The Power played returned in 2018 and 2019, and had locked in a contract for games against St Kilda in 2020 and 2021 before COVID-19 struck and put a halt to all international travel.

Mr Hunter, who left Port Adelaide earlier this year to accept a role with Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest’s Minderoo Foundation, warned Australians against turning their back on a bilateral relationship which had taken years to build up.

Connor Rozee trains at Jiangwan Stadium before last year’s game. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos

“There will be a point when people realise that disengagement with China, and disengagement with the world, isn’t really an option,” Mr Hunter said.

“You can’t take wetness out of water... Frankly speaking, we’re going to go through some tough times economically and making the economic relationship between Australia and China more difficult isn’t in our national interest. So I think, ultimately, our national interest will prevail.

“China is a complex place. It’s a problematic place. It’s a place with which we don’t share similarities – whether they be political, economic, linguistic, cultural or historic.

“But we have built up a level of engagement through trade, through investment, through sport, through people-to-people exchange, and I think we need to continue down that track.”

Power president David Koch said the club was committed to its China strategy, and employed a full-time business development executive based in Shanghai and had helped land two major sponsors in the past five years - MG and Shanghai Cred.

“Our China strategy is a way of building financial resources in the club that ensure your football department is fully funded each and every year,” Mr Koch said.

Mr Hunter has written an insider’s account of Port Adelaide’s China project in his book Port Adelaide to Shanghai (Wakefield Press, $29.95). Available from November 20.

Originally published as Port Adelaide could play AFL games in China in 2022, says Andrew Hunter