Melbourne Victory chairman Geoff Lord believes it will be beneficial for the Australian Football League to co-exist with the A-League and not try to go against them.
Lord was president of the Hawthorn Football Club from 1993-95 so he has experience in both codes and suggests that they will only get stronger if an alliance is formed between soccer and Aussie rules footy.
"(AFL chief executive) Andrew Demetriou would argue the opposite but I believe they should be smarter than trying to bully," said Lord.
"Why not look for ways to form stronger alliances and to take the benefits that can come from both games and maximise?
"There remains an unhealthy paranoia about soccer, but what about sharing a sponsor or cross-sell membership tickets? A 12-month ticket to both codes makes sense."
Lord said the upcoming World Cup would provide even more exposure for the sport and said it was growing rapidly around Victoria.
"Overseas it's flying, enormous business, and if we make the World Cup in 2010 watch it go through the roof. And you can add to that when, not if, the World Cup comes here in 2018 or 2022," he said.
"Then look at the number of grounds in Victoria.
"Councils are building less and less AFL grounds and more and more soccer grounds. I could take you to Langwarrin or Mornington and show you over 60 junior soccer teams, figures that amazed me."
