| Event | International Rules Series | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
| First test | |||||||
| |||||||
| Date | 15 November 2020 (cancelled) | ||||||
| Second test | |||||||
| |||||||
| Date | 21 November 2020 (cancelled) | ||||||
←2017 | |||||||
The2020 International Rules Series was to have been the 21stInternational Rules Series contested byGaelic footballers fromIreland andAustralian footballers fromAustralia. The series would have been held inIreland and was to be the first series to be arranged by theGaelic Athletic Association (GAA) andAustralian Football League (AFL) since November 2017.[1]
It was cancelled in April 2020 amid theCOVID-19 pandemic in the Republic of Ireland.[2]
Theprevious series between the countries had been held in and won by Australia in November 2017.[3] As the GAA had scheduled anexhibition hurling match between Galway and Kilkenny at theSydney Showground Stadium in November 2018, the two associations met to discuss the prospect of holding a series the following year.[4] As time passed, plans for a series in 2019 did not materialise, and the GAA eventually confirmed that insufficient time remained to stage the event.[5] In November 2019 the AFL and GAA proposed dates for a two-test series in 2020 to be held in Ireland.[1][6] The GAA also proposed to hold a memorial ahead of the second test in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of theBloody Sunday massacre, which saw fourteen civilians killed at a Gaelic football match atCroke Park during theIrish War of Independence.[7] On 4 April 2020, shortly after the initial wave of the coronavirus pandemic in Australia, the AFL announced the cancellation of the series.[8][2]
