AFL's alcohol own goal

The AFL unwittingly promotes binge drinking through new alcohol sponsorship which encourages footy fans to "sub" - a term for skolling - their next beer, alcohol health campaigners say.

Under a 10-year deal with Carlton United Breweries announced yesterday, team substitutes will be called the Carlton Draught substitute, with the beer logo on the players' green and red vests.

The AFL said that when a substitution was announced, fans would be asked: "Should you sub too?" The AFL said this encouraged fans to substitute a beer for something else.

But the words were called a "spectacular own goal" by anti-drug and alcohol abuse campaigners, who say to "sub" is commonly to skol and so the chant would encourage binge drinking.

"This will do exactly the reverse of what is claimed," McCusker Centre for Action on Alcohol and Youth director Mike Daube said.

"Both CUB and the AFL must know it is a term used to describe a means of getting drunk faster."

The AFL said it did not agree the term "sub" was associated with skolling and that the AFL and CUB both encouraged responsible drinking.