ALICE Springs Town Council has made the extraordinary decision to ban an annual community club Aussie rules football competition. 

The council last week was presented with a motion to follow- through on the proposal, which passed despite strong opposition raised by two other councillors. 

The successful motion means Alice Springs Town Council will withdraw its support for the Community Cup competition which has teams from remote Aboriginal communities in and around Central Australia travelling to Alice Springs for games each weekend during the football season. The council said its decision was based on the town experiencing high levels of social unrest. 

The move will impact the senior men’s Alice Springs-based Central Australian Football League. The five teams in the CAFL rely on players from those communities which are now banned. 

The Community Cup is played on Sundays with the CAFL on Saturdays. Community footballers are permitted to play for their community teams while also playing in the CAFL…