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he AFL is likely to announce the host of the 2020 Grand Final this week, with Queensland, Western Australia, and Victoria all making a play for the season decider.

AFL CEO, Gillon McLachlan, said on Friday (August 21) the decision will be made this week (starting August 24), with the fate of the Brownlow Medal, AFL All Australian announcement, and the AFLPA MVP depending on the location.

“I don’t know if it’s Tuesday, but it will be next week,” McLachlan told 3AW on Friday.

“I think we’ve been pretty consistent… we’re aiming for the end of August.

“We continue to work with the Victorian Government and wherever we land it will be in consent with them.

“I’m not trying to sound naïve, but we’ve got a contract.

“We’re having very fair conversations with the Victorian Government, but it’s increasingly looking challenging in Victoria.

“We’re having conversations with others and I think all of that will come together and we’ll have a decision by next week.

“Whether that’s Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday I’m not sure.

“We haven’t made a decision, but it’s probably likely that they would go hand-in-glove,” he said, on the location of the Brownlow Medal event and others.

“But it’s not certain.

“It’s possible you could have all of the teams in Queensland and have the Grand Final elsewhere, I guess.

“We haven’t made a decision on that.

“The structure of the finals and the Grand Final will be the first decision.

“Next week, that will be decided.

“Then the other awards and the Brownlow Medal will follow,” McLachlan said.

In other AFL news, McLachlan has defended the AFL’s decision to not use the Aboriginal flag during this year’s Indigenous Round, due to the AFL not agreeing to pay a licencing fee for the use of the flag.

Apparel company, WAM Clothing, holds the licence to the flag and charges a fee to any organisation or person wanting to use the flag, whether Indigenous or not.

McLachlan said the decision to not use the flag during the Indigenous Round was made on principle, rather than financial.

“The Aboriginal flag is an official flag of Australia, it should be able to be proudly displayed as an act of inclusion and recognition of Aboriginal people,” McLachlan told 3AW.

“The clear advice from our Indigenous advisory council was to not enter into that commercial arrangement with the licence holders of the flag this year.

“It’s a big issue that we have to pay for it,” he said.

Carlton star Eddie Betts, defended the decision of the AFL, saying charging for the use of the flag is wrong.

“I wrote a children’s book about Aboriginal culture and I put the Aboriginal flag in there,” Betts told AFL360.

“I didn’t know I had to get permission being an Aboriginal person to teach young kids at school about Aboriginal culture.

“There was a lot of politics behind it… I support the AFL for not paying to use the Aboriginal flag because it should be free for everyone,” he said.

Following the AFL’s decision, an online petition calling for government intervention to buy the copyright properties has gained over 100,000 signatures.