Australian rules football in Nauru (typically referred to as "football", "Australian Football" or less commonly as "AFL") dates back to the 1910s and quickly established itself as the national sport of the country. Today, it has an overall participation rate of over 30%, which is the highest for the sport in the world. Structure The football league system consists of one national league, run by the Nauru Australian Football Association (NAFA), based in the Linkbelt Oval, the country's only active stadium. The surface of the oval is crushed phosphate dust. An interim Nauru Australian Football League (NAFL) has established after two workshops has been held under the Ministry of Sports led by Honorable Minister for Sports, Justice, & Health Mr Matthew Batsiua MP. The Interim new Board Executives for NAFL elects Mr Roy Harris, Former Lions full back Player as the new president, football administration elects youth advocator a female to be part of the NAFL, Ann Hubert as Secretary others former interim president of NAFA Mr David Dowiyogo, and other passionate members Fidelis Amwano, Samuel Grundler and Andy Cain are all elected by community groups. History One of the earliest mentions of football on Pleasant Island (Nauru) was 20 man Nauruan police team in 1919 wearing sleeveless Australian rules guernseys, the photograph was extracted from the National Archives from 1916. Mr W Easton, of Melbourne and W H St Claire reportedly credited with introducing the game to locals around this time, establishing regular competition and umpiring matches. Although rugby and soccer had been introduced first, the locals were more passionate about playing under Australian rules. Regular competition between local teams commenced in 1921. By 1923, the League of Nations had made Australia one of the trustees of the island along with New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The Nauru Football League commenced on February 4, 1924. Reports in 1924 were that Australian rules had become the most popular code of football on Pleasant Island with 250 of the country's 1,700 people eagerly participating, and that without access to Australian footballs they had been for several years playing under Victorian Rules playing an enthusiastic rough and tumble game played in bare feet with a round ball made from pandamus fibre which had become the "primary pastime" of the islanders. Early matches were played on ground shared with other sports until the Nauruan government established a dedicated ground at Boe District