The AFL’s decision to schedule a match in Melbourne for the first time on Good Friday in 2017 puts the “relentless and commodifying logic of the market” ahead of all other considerations, according to Anglican Bishop Philip Huggins.
The AFL announced this week that it had scheduled a game in which the reigning premiers, the Western Bulldogs, will play North Melbourne, at 4.20pm at Melbourne’s Etihad Stadium on Good Friday next year.
Bishop Huggins, assistant bishop at the Anglican diocese of Melbourne, said in a statement that years of respecting the sanctity of Good Friday, the AFL had now succumbed to market forces for which holy days/holidays were just another opportunity to make a profit.
“We have always been ‘kicking against the wind’ but the AFL has been one entity that has exercised restraint – not least because many people of faith who also enjoy football have conveyed the depth of their feeling about Good Friday,” he said.
Bishop Huggins said the “heart dies a little each time the relentless and commodifying logic of the market overwhelms all other considerations”.
“Even the most sacred days, for which our forebears had the wisdom to make holy(i) days, are then invaded. We are then left with a society full of products but short of meaning. That is what is happening and no amount of marketing spin fills the void.”
Bishop Huggins said the AFL’s restraint in not scheduling matches on Good Friday until now – despite the fact that other codes had done so – was appreciated. He urged the ALF to reconsider its decision.
Travis Auld, the AFL’s general manager of clubs and operations, said the timeslot had been chosen to avoid conflict with major Good Friday afternoon services on the day.
He was quoted on the AFL website as saying that the decision was made “on the basis that our society has changed in recent decades and the majority of football fans, who are our ultimate decision-makers, share the view of our clubs who have expressed their wish to play on this day”. But he added that the AFL accepted some football fans would remain opposed to scheduling a game on this day.
The idea to hold a game on Good Friday was first “green-lighted” by the AFL in 2014.
