Tigers look at India game
Richmond chief executive Brendon Gale says the Tigers hope to play an exhibition game in India in the near future
RICHMOND hopes to play an exhibition game in India in the near future, Tigers chief executive Brendon Gale says.
Gale told SEN radio on Friday morning Richmond had explored playing an exhibition game in India this February as part of an attempt to tap into Australia's Indian population over the past two years.
Gale visited India to assess possible venues and security, but said the venture had put been put off for a variety of reasons.
"We thought as a real demonstration of our sincerity in [connecting with Australia's Indian community], wouldn't it be great to play an exhibition game in India," Gale said.
"Now that depends on a lot of things, together with the AFL … we've been looking at that for a while."
Gale said the Tigers remained interested in staging an exhibition game in India, possibly against another AFL team, but would require financial support to do so.
While the AFL was "excited" that an exhibition game in India could help get Melbourne's "significant" Indian population more involved in Australian Football, the League was taking a "cautious approach", with player safety its primary concern, Gale said.
For the past two years, Richmond has been running an Indian members program, which has included making Indian cricketer Rahul Dravid the program patron and hosting the Indian football team during last year's International Cup.
"There's a significant sports-loving Indian population in Australia and Victoria so we think with the Richmond emblem [and] the Tiger symbol [being] an important secular symbol in India, there's an opportunity to really build a bridge to that community and make them feel part of the fabric of our community," Gale said.