AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou has used his speech at the official launch of the 2010 home-and-away season to attempt to put soccer in its place as he vowed the league won't allow the potential of a World Cup being held in Australia to destroy the country's most popular sport.
Demetriou's comments come amidst reports that Etihad Stadium in Melbourne will not be part of FFA's official bid for either the 2018 or 2022 World Cups.
Instead the ground is likely to be reserved for the use of the AFL and possibly NRL state of origin matches given that the MCG - which is likely to be the centrepiece of the World Cup bid - will be unavailable for up to eight weeks during the middle of the AFL season should the bid be successful.
The FIFA World Cup must be staged in June - right in the middle of the AFL and NRL seasons - to avoid clashing with the various domestic football leagues in Europe (which run from August to May).
But under FIFA rules any venue that hosts the World Cup will be off limits to rival sports a month beforehand as well as during the tournament.
So if both the MCG and Etihad Stadium were off-limits for the AFL for two months, it would make it difficult for the season to go ahead, and it is believed a recent meeting between the AFL, NRL and FFA paved the way for Geelong's Skilled Stadium to be the second venue for a potential World Cup bid in Victoria along with the MCG.
A total of 12 venues across Australia will be needed to host the World Cup - the world's biggest sporting event.
Demetriou said the AFL was supportive of the World Cup bid but would not put its competition in jeopardy to accommodate it.
"We have to be ready for the possibility of the World Cup," he said at the season launch.
"The AFL has always said we are happy to accommodate major sporting events (and) we have a track record to prove it."
"But we do not - and will not - accept second place for Australian football."
"We welcome other sports and major events but we won't allow seven million fans to be deprived of Australia's indigenous game and nor put at risk the jobs of so many associated with our game."
In the past both NRL state of origin matches and major rugby union internationals have been scheduled in Melbourne during the AFL season but these have usually been held during the time of the AFL's mid-season break in June thus causing minimal disruption to the fixture.
And in 2000, the AFL also agreed to start and end its season a month early to accommodate the staging of the Sydney Olympics.