particularly in Papua New Guinea and Nauru, where Australian football is now the national sport. Today, the sport is played at an amateur level in various countries throughout the world.23 countries have participated in the International Cup and 9 countries have participated in the AFL Europe Championship with both competitions prohibiting Australian players. Over 20 countries have either affiliation or working agreements with the AFL. There have been many VFL/AFL players who were born outside Australia, an increasing number of which have been recruited through initiatives and, more recently, international scholarship programs. Many of these players have been Irish, as interest in recruiting talented Gaelic footballers dates back to the start of the Irish experiment in the 1960s. Irishmen in the AFL have since become not just starters for their clubs but also Brownlow Medalists (Jim Stynes) and premiership players (Tadhg Kennelly). Most of the current amateur clubs and leagues in existence have developed since the 1980s, when leagues began to be established in North America, Europe and Asia. The sport developed a cult following in the United States when matches were broadcast on the fledgling ESPN network in the 1980s. As the size of the Australian diaspora has increased, so has the number of clubs outside Australia. This expansion has been further aided by multiculturalism and assisted by exhibition matches as well as exposure generated through players who have converted to and from other football codes. In Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada, and the United States there are many thousands of players. A fan of the sport since attending school in Geelong, King Charles is the Patron of AFL Europe. In 2013, participation across AFL Europe's 21 member nations was more than 5,000 players, the majority of which are European nationals rather than Australian expats. The sport also has a growing presence in India. The AFL became the de facto governing body when it pushed for the closure of the International Australian Football Council in 2002. The International Cup, held triennially since 2002, is the highest level of international competition. Although Australian rules football has not yet been a full sport at the Olympic Games or Commonwealth Games, when Melbourne hosted the 1956 Summer Olympics, which included the MCG being the main stadium, Australian rules football was chosen as the native sport to be demonstrated as per International Olympic Committee rules. On 7 December, the sport