A determined Australia rolls up its sleeves and prepares to court soccer's powerbrokers
The Age
Monday June 15, 2009
The battle to host the World Cup is on in earnest, reports Dan Silkstone. IN THE Great Hall of Parliament House yesterday, a great party was thrown. Officially, it began what will be a great challenge. The Prime Minister, Opposition Leader and current Socceroos squad were all there.Every man and woman ever to play for Australia was invited: It was a great big launch for the biggest event there is.Winning will be hard, but not impossible. Australia is relying partly on reputation as one of its strengths in a knock-down fight with richer and more influential nations. As part of preparing the bid, Football Federation Australia has conducted extensive market research around the world.The results were partly obvious and partly surprising. For the most part people like Australia and want to visit it, that much was clear.At home, where research was also conducted, support for the bid was high, despite occasional sniping from rival codes about the allocation of taxpayers' money. More than 90 per cent of Australians polled were in favour of an attempt to win the event.Is this important? Absolutely. One of the chief things FIFA delegates look for in assessing a potential host is how badly they want it."You have to convince FIFA that you want this thing," FFA chief executive Ben Buckley said. "Not as a bid team but as a nation and a people."The international research revealed a view of Australia as welcoming, safe, fun and desirable to visit. But there were also downsides. Thetyranny of distance was also persuasive.To combat the idea that Australia is simply too distant, the bid will market our nation as "just one sleep away" from the rest of the world.Thus far, Australia's is a bid with few enemies and plenty of goodwill.But Australia's bid has weaknesses. Among the rhetoric and good feeling at Parliament yesterday, there was little mention of what the bid team calls infrastructure, which is Australia's Achilles heel.While the nation's track record in hosting major events is a huge strength, the quality and extent of stadium and other facilities is a problem. At least eight host cities will be needed and 12 venues.Ten must seat more than 45,000 people and two must fit more than 80,000. Standards for media facilities, corporate entertainment and broadcasting are also strict. Melbourne, with minimal tweaking is fine, Sydney and Brisbane also. Canberra, Newcastle, the Gold Coast and Townsville are realistic chances. But massive problems exist in Adelaide and Perth.South Australian Premier Mike Rann has repeatedly refused to commit to a new stadium that could have his state host a group, while the Western Australian commitment to rebuild Subiaco Oval was jettisoned with last year's change of government.New stadiums would not have to be built if the cup bid is not successful, but an undertaking to build them must be given before the end of this year or Adelaide and Perth will miss out.For a bid said to be based around grassroots support across the nation, it would be a public relations disaster.At the next Council of Australian Governments meeting in July, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will raise the issue with both states. When premiers again meet him in November, it will be high on the agenda.Already this weakness is being exploited. Representatives of the rival US bid have been at pains to point out that they have no such difficulty, boasting that their nation has 50 suitable stadiums.The American bid is fronted by US President Barack Obama and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. England has David Beckham and Prince William, the Russians are targeting Guus Hiddink as the face for their campaign.But Australia will largely forsake celebrity, instead making the Australian people the focus. Some household names may get on board but they will be a bonus.This leads, then, to the political fight. An argument that we would do a good hosting job is little use if the votes of the FIFA executive's 24 delegates are already stitched up by secret horse trading.Australia's strategy is todivide and conquer. To win the event, a nation must corral 13 votes at the end of three elimination rounds of voting.Because the 2018 and 2022 finals are being awarded simultaneously, the large confederations could vote in blocs and effectively trade World Cups.This was already raised by FIFA powerbroker Jack Warner who has advised his fellow North American delegates to support a European bid for 2018 in exchange for the support of Europe's eight delegates for either the Mexican or US bid for 2022.Australia must first beat rivals Indonesia, Qatar, Japan and South Korea to win the support of Asia's four delegates. This is achievable since the Indonesian and Qatari bids are longshots and Japan and South Korea hosted too recently, in 2002. Oceania's single vote is near-assured.Then comes the harder task, trying to persuade delegates from other zones to split their votes. This may not be as unlikely as it sounds. With bids from Russia, England, the Netherlands and Spain-Portugal, how would European delegates arrive at a consensus to vote as a bloc?Even if a clear front-runner emerged (likely to be England) it would not be in the interests of those supporting rival bids to fall into line. By helping England win the 2018 event, Russian (or Spanish) supporters would sacrifice their ability to bid for 2022.Those behind the bid promise we will play the game adroitly, spruiking the legendary persuasive skills of FFA chairman Frank Lowy.Lowy's job will be to curry favour with enough delegates to prevent bloc voting, assembling enough votes to enter the final horse trade. He was already at it earlier this month, lobbying delegates aboard his yacht in the Bahamas.The bid now gathers pace. A list of host cities must be finalised by December, the official bid book submitted to FIFA next May. Then will follow official "inspections" during which delegates run the rule over Australia's plans and facilities, but also its restaurants and luxury hotels. The vote will come next December.The Federal Government has already committed $45.6 million. If it is successful the infrastructure needed would cost far more than that. But the legacy would be massive.Australia must combat the notion that Europe "deserves" another turn after World Cups in South Africa and Brazil. To challenge this, Buckley and Lowy emphasise that the world is changing. The cumulative TV audience for the last World Cup was 26.2 billion. More were in Asia than anywhere else. An Australian World Cup finals would be in their time zone. All eyes would be on us.THE WORLD CUP2008DECEMBER Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announces $45.6 million funding for a World Cup bid.2009JANUARY FFA hires German firm Abold, which has prepared winning bids for the Germany 2006 and South Africa 2010 World Cups.JUNE 14 Australia officially launches bid at Parliament House, Canberra.DECEMBER Bid team to finalise venues and facilities to be included in bid document.DECEMBER Official guarantees regarding security, visas and other legal documents submitted to FIFA.2010MAY Bid Book document representing official bid submitted to FIFA.JUNE 11 World Cup begins in South AfricaAUGUST/SEPTEMBER FIFA delegation tour to inspect Australian facilities.DECEMBER Vote to determine host nations for 2018 and 2022 World Cups.
© 2009 The Age
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