Australia's bid for the 2018 or 2022 World Cup

[northernspirit]

what a whinging fark, build a bridge

 

[midfielder]

Rallying cry to the AFL faithful especially their media the same mob who popped champagne corks when we did not make the WC are smelling of fear now we look like we may have some chance of pulling off the bid

The AFL are a very attack like body they have been in an undeclared war with football for years but are being forced move into the open

The AFL do not want football to win the WC bid simple as.. they know it will forever change the face of the Australian sporting landscape .. add the 2015 Asia cup in Australia and the womens world cup the world is changing

 

[Bex]

Would love to see it happen

 

[midfielder]

If anyone wants to see how well AD rally his troops then have a look at Real Footy .... but a sample of the minds of many AFL folk can be gleamed by this thread on the Roar... http://www.theroar.com.au/2009/12/07/afl-season-in-doubt-if-world-cup-bid-successful/#comment-262659

My fav comment was this...

Give me a break Kurt, why didnt you also include the nonsense non-soccer fans and Pip are writing on this forum.

I thought you were smart enough but it looks as if I need to repeat the first thing I posted in this thread.

You gotta give it to AD on laucnching this pre-emptive strike on the FFA.
1. Timing the Monday after the WC draw for 2010.
2. Weapons Exclusive report in pro-AFL Herald Sun and interview with Anti-Soccer 3AW tabloid talkback station.
3. The rest of the media pick up on the story and it becomes an avalanche.
Cant you see its a national crisis. The Cuban Missile Crisis has nothing on this

I should have just left it at that.

But I might as well finish it like this.

Good Night all!

 

[midfielder]

Rallying cry to the AFL faithful especially their media the same mob who popped champagne corks when we did not make the WC are smelling of fear now we look like we may have some chance of pulling off the bid

The AFL are a very attack like body they have been in an undeclared war with football for years but are being forced move into the open

The AFL do not want football to win the WC bid simple as.. they know it will forever change the face of the Australian sporting landscape .. add the 2015 Asia cup in Australia and the womens world cup the world is changing

There attack today..

http://www.theroar.com.au/2009/12/07/afl-season-in-doubt-if-world-cup-bid-successful/#comment-262658

Forum discussion follows on from the article..

AFL season in doubt if World Cup bid successful [Updated]

The AFL could be forced to cancel its season if Australia wins the right to host the 2018 or 2022 soccer World Cup, AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou said on Monday.

Demetriou said that if world soccers governing body FIFA could claim exclusive access to the nations biggest stadium the 100,000-capacity MCG for four months, it would be impossible to schedule a viable AFL season.

Even though the World Cup only lasts for four-and-a-half weeks in June-July, Demetriou said the AFL had learnt that the MCG could be decommissioned for four months while its most important venue was refitted for soccer.

The World Cup starts in June and theres four or five weeks of securitising it, putting signage up, Demetriou told the Fairfax Radio Network.

They would commence work in late March or early April and that would probably mean wed just have to cancel the season because that would mean we wouldnt have the MCG for 16 weeks.

We could probably do without it for 10 weeks and wed have to play at Etihad Stadium.

But we couldnt do it (for 16 weeks), wed have to cancel the season.

You cant just move the season to January, its out of the (TV) ratings period, youve got cricket, its hot, it just doesnt work.

Weve even toyed with the possibility of suspending the season for four weeks because thats what we originally thought was going to happen.

And that could work, its not easy but it could work.

Were trying to find ways to accommodate the FFA but we havent had much come back the other way.

Demetriou said the AFL had a history of working constructively alongside other major sporting events in Australia, such as the 2000 Sydney Olympics and the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games.

In 2000, the AFL season began a month early, allowing it to finish in August ahead of the Sydney Games in September.

Cancelling a season is a disaster, it affects revenue weve got broadcast agreements, weve got agreements with members, weve got agreements with corporate partners, said the AFL CEO.

The cost is a monumental cost and Im talking hundreds of millions of dollars.

Secondly, it would probably mean that some clubs who rely on the $7.5-8 million (annual) distribution from the AFL, theres no way they could be sustained because they havent got that money coming in.

It does (put clubs at risk), it would mean a lot of jobs at risk, it would mean the severing of some agreements.

But I dont think its going to get to that, I think wiser heads will prevail.

Its not just us, Im sure the NRL are in the same boat, and the ARU with their Super 15 season.

This (would be) the first World Cup where four football codes have ever been staged in the one country.

England are favoured to win the right to host the 2018 World Cup finals, but Australias bid for the 2022 competition continues to gain momentum.

FIFA will vote on the host nations for both tournaments in December 2010.

UPDATED

Football Federation Australia CEO Ben Buckley has moved to ease concerns that hosting the 2018 or 2022 World Cups could force the cancellation of an AFL season.

Buckley rejected AFL chief executive Andrew Demetrious claim that soccers governing body FIFA could claim exclusive access to the 100,000 capacity MCG for four months.

Demetriou said earlier on Monday that such a situation could make it impossible to schedule a viable AFL season.

But Buckley insisted that the MCG would not need to be out of action for much longer than eight weeks.

We need to get access four weeks before the competition for preparation for pitches and preparation for overlay that are required by FIFA and the duration of the tournament, Buckley said on Monday.

In our estimation, that is six to eight weeks depending on where the finals are played.

The decision on which country will host the respective 2018 and 2022 World Cups will be made next December.

Buckley said the FFA had provided the AFL with information that the longest a venue could be locked up for would be eight weeks.

The FFA had also had discussions with FIFA last week regarding other football codes in Australia continuing their competition during the World Cup.

Buckley, who was Demetrious No.2 at the AFL before taking over the top job at the FFA, said he understood the needs of the other codes.

I am confident there is goodwill and all the other codes understand there is substantial benefits to Australia as a nation to host a great World Cup, he said.

 

[midfielder]

The Vic premier says it can WC & AFL season can exist...

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/12/07/2764338.htm?site=sport&section=football

Brumby plays down Cup threat to AFL

Posted December 7, 2009 18:41:00

Updated December 7, 2009 18:49:00


Mr Brumby is confident Australia can have a successful football season and host a World Cup. (ABC TV)

Audio: World Cup tensions boil over (The World Today)
Related Story: MCG 'in the dark' over Cup plans

Related Story: Cup bid has Demetriou concerned

Australia can host a world-class soccer World Cup and a successful AFL season simultaneously, Victorian Premier John Brumby says.

The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) agreed today to express an interest in hosting the 2018 or 2022 World Cups, and by May next year will make a "book bid", detailing where games would be played.

But there are already concerns in Victoria that the event would interrupt the AFL season.

Mr Brumby says that by working closely with the AFL, he is confident Australia can have a successful football season and host a World Cup.

He says there are many matters, including tension over the overlap with the AFL season, that need to be discussed in the coming months.

"I don't think there's any circumstances in which you wouldn't have an AFL season, but I think the AFL is absolutely right in raising any of the issues, the concerns, about the competing and overlapping aspects of the World Cup and AFL," he said.

"It's important to bear in mind the World Cup is the biggest event in the world. It has around three times the number of viewers of an Olympic Games and so it's something that would really put Australia on the map."

Other state premiers have also backed the bid.

New South Wales Premier Kristina Keneally said should Australia win a World Cup, Sydney would like to host the final.

South Australian Premier Mike Rann said his state was already investing in the event.

"It's a national push rather than a city-centred push," he said.

"South Australia and Adelaide is keen to be a host city for a World Cup games and indeed we are submitting $450 million to upgrade Adelaide Oval, which will be great for football ... great for international cricket but will also be FIFA-compliant and capable of hosting World Cup games."

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh also backed the bid.

"The involvement of our nation in major global events is important to who we are and we want to be part of that effort," Ms Bligh said.

 

[goingtoadisco]

Cancel the season cos of one ground in Melbourne ??? Oh but i thought The AFL was a National Game ?

 

[Honkee]

Meh, Cancel the entire bloody league forever

 

[Honkee]

Reader poll Hijack time:

Would you be happy to see State of Origin shifted to accommodate the World Cup?

http://www.smh.com.au/polls/sport/form.html

 

[midfielder]

Thank God we live in an online age.. The Roar (online sports site not the Memows) published an article today...

http://www.theroar.com.au/2009/12/08/fear-and-loathing-is-ruling-australian-sports/#comment-262833

World Game? What a joke! World Cup? Leave it to the English, Italians and the rest of them, claimed Albert of Melbourne on the Herald Sun website, one of the thousand plus hateful comments that littered sites across the web following the AFLs claim that they will lose a season if there was an Australian World Cup.

AFL vs. the World declared the News Limited press; appearing to cheerlead the squabble between our national game and the world game.

The corresponding article here on The Roar had over 250 comments before the sun had set.

It was an impeccably timed response from AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou; just as the World Cup draw and Australias World Cup bid were in the national spotlight, not to mention at a time when the AFL is in its deep slumber.

The AFL has every right to protect its product, and the fact remains this question surrounding the fate of our national codes during the World Cup was one of the biggest question marks that surrounded an Australian World Cup a question no one wanted to discuss.

It is an immensely complex issue, and without clear guidelines and expectations from FIFA, there can be no clear solution to the issue at present.

But if we are fighting amongst ourselves so fervently, what chance do we stand against the might of the USA and England?

The fact is if we are to stage the World Cup, itll require immense concessions from every other code, made more complex by our suitable stadium shortage, and we must, therefore, work in close cooperation to find suitable solutions, not allowing people to hijack the debate and deal in absolutes.

This is only the start. If such extremity continues, how are we going to find a workable solution so all codes can be accommodated?

With each such statement from Demetriou or the like, Australias World Cup bid which was always going to be a challenge appears even more doomed.

Yes, perhaps Demetriou has exaggerated for effect, but what concerns me most is the dogma attached to this debate. Perhaps this was part of Demetrious ploy.

Denigrate the very idea of the World Cup by striking fear into the hearts of his games followers.

Its not only this dogmatic rhetoric of AFL vs. the World but also the hatred and ethnic division thats being attached to these World Cup claims.

Jack, another contributor to the aforementioned Herald Sun article, wrote when putting his case as to why the AFL shouldnt cave in to FIFA: Yes it will upset a lot of immigrants, however if you chose to live in this country, its traditions and sport come with the package.

How very sad there are people who still think like that.

If so many of us sports fans are going to denigrate the World Cup with feelings of bitterness, hatred and contempt then are we truly deserving hosts of a tournament revered around the world?

Amongst the bitterness and hatred lies one query.

Where has the enthusiasm that greeted the build up to the Sydney Olympics gone?

Arguably, on television ratings and economic worth alone, the FIFA World Cup would be a greater benefactor to Australia certainly in terms of showcasing Australia to a global audience once again.

Would AFL fans be unable to join in the celebrations of our World Cup? Do the Socceroos not belong to them, too?

For all the protestation and arguing, remember they are two great sports that can co-exist, and there are many who love them both.

The World Cup doesnt represent an invasion and awful phrase that has been thrown up with its racial overtones and AFL fans shouldnt fear its game will be starved by football. And that flawed reasoning can be the only explanation for why the World Cup, compared with the Olympics, is creating such angst.

Commonsense needs to come to the fore here.

What strikes me most in this debate is how insular and one-dimensional Australian society has become and sport is a microcosm of society.

Despite the huge strides made in our multicultural land, ethnicity and race are still used as fodder in many of the flawed arguments for why soccer is not an Australian game. We seem to be unable to deal with such issues with logic, compromise and acceptance, rather so many resort to absolutes black or white, yes or no.

Dogma and fear are tarnishing Australias chances of hosting the worlds biggest sporting event.

Sadly, we have become the new America: introverted and overly protective.

 

[Ranyen]

Reader poll Hijack time:

Would you be happy to see State of Origin shifted to accommodate the World Cup?

http://www.smh.com.au/polls/sport/form.html

Here is the article:

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/radical-origin-shift-on-cards-if-cup-comes-here-20091207-kfeq.html

Radical Origin shift on cards if cup comes here
BRAD WALTER AND MICHAEL LYNCH
December 8, 2009

STATE of Origin would have to be rescheduled for two consecutive years to a three-week period in March under a proposal being put forward for Australia to host the 2018 World Cup.

The scheduling of Origin is one of the major issues concerning officials ahead of a meeting with Football Federation Association representatives later this week as Australia's 12 largest sporting venues would be given over exclusively to the World Cup for nine weeks in the middle of the NRL season, which would start on February 2 - the height of summer.

And with the Confederations Cup to serve as a test run a year before the World Cup, the disruption to the NRL and other domestic sporting competitions would be for two years if Australia was successful in its bid to host the tournament in either 2018 or 2022.

NRL chief executive David Gallop said yesterday the code didn't want to be an obstacle to Australia winning the right to host the world's biggest sporting event but said there are concerns that need to be addressed by the bid organisers.

''We've got a meeting with them later this week and that will hopefully shed some more light on it,'' Gallop said. ''We don't want to stand in the way of the World Cup, but it's difficult to see how we could be expected to fall off the face of the earth. Certainly ideas like running Origin over a three-week period are a major concern to us.''

It is understood that solutions put forward so far include shifting Origin to March before players have the chance to impress for selection or playing it after the World Cup and just before the NRL finals series that usually begins in early September.

Another alternative is to move Origin to New Zealand as ANZ Stadium, the SFS, Suncorp Stadium and Etihad Stadium will all be unavailable during the World Cup.

It is unclear what impact the World Cup would have on television deals or whether the NRL will be offered any compensation.

With FFA due to lodge bid documents with FIFA by Friday promising all bid requirements will be met, the issue is set to come to a head and state premiers yesterday discussed the World Cup at the Council of Australian Governments meeting in Brisbane. FFA officials have worked on the bid for more than 18 months but rival codes have complained about the lack of consultation or detail provided to them.

The NRL, AFL and other major sporting bodies affected are believed to be keen to collectively discuss the issues surrounding Australia hosting the World Cup but the FFA has so far resisted.

However, FFA chief executive Ben Buckley was adamant that he and his organisation had kept the NRL and other codes in the loop over the bidding plans for more than a year, refuting suggestions from AFL boss Andrew Demetriou that a season-long lockdown would be required to accommodate the World Cup.

''We have never asked the AFL to shut down their season,'' Buckley said yesterday. ''We have only outlined to them the various requirements under the FIFA regulations to host the World Cup.''

However, he did concede that the NRL and AFL would be required to surrender access to major stadiums for at least six to eight weeks to accommodate the World Cup.

''The requirements are that we need to get access to the venues four weeks prior to the competition for the preparation for the pitches, some of the stadia overlays that are required by FIFA, and of course we need the venues for the duration of the tournament,'' Buckley said.

''In our estimation that's somewhere between six to eight weeks depending on where the finals are played and depending on what venues we use.

''Based on all the estimates we have done, maximum disruption would be around eight weeks. If a venue is not playing in the semi-finals or final those venues could come on line sooner.''

Buckley said that the FFA had first talked to the AFL in late 2008 and had kept it aware of ''a range of scenarios and options that would need to be considered''.

The FFA has until May to have all the relevant sporting bodies and stadia on board as that is the due date for its World Cup bid book to be handed to FIFA. With the MCG and Etihad Stadium contractually bound to host AFL games during the winter months, the FFA must rely on goodwill from the code.

At least the NRL is trying to get around it, not just whining like the AFL.

 

[dibo]

Am merging this thread with the other one.

 

[Dr Nick]

Even more so than getting the World Cup hosted here, I would love to see the AFL get cancelled

 

[marinermick]

All this AFL whinging is probably a good thing. FIFA is a very arrogant and headstrong organisation and the more the AFL push the more FIFA will push back.

May actually help our chances.

 

[marinermick]

Ray Gatt
The Australian

GOOD try Andrew, but we know what your game is.

There is as much chance of the AFL cancelling its season to accommodate Australia hosting the World Cup finals in either 2018 or 2022 as there is of no more barmaids or hostesses emerging to blow Tiger Woods' carefully cultivated boy-next-door cover.

Nah, this is just the AFL boss's idea of stirring up the rabid masses in the aerial ping pong game.

It's political grandstanding at its best -- strike fear in to the hearts of the fans, invoke outrage and a public outcry then sit back and watch the resultant backlash.

Smart thinking.

You can just picture it now as the anti-soccer lobby launches its whinge and moan offensive.

How dare something like the biggest sporting event in the world be allowed to interrupt the season of a sport played nowhere else but in a few states of the country.

Wake up from your tiny world of insecurity, Andrew. Surely it is not asking too much to put aside the fear and loathing for the few weeks of the World Cup.

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Australia. Embrace it, enjoy it. The benefits will flow on to everyone, including the AFL. Once the World Cup carnival has packed up and the FIFA gravy train of freeloaders has departed Australia, then the AFL can get on with living in its little world of anonymity.

 

[marinermick]

So much for Melbourne thinking they are the sporting capital of the world when they do not want to host the biggest sporting event on the planet.

 

[dibo]

But, but, the world ends at Geelong in the west, Echuca in the north and Gippsland in the east, doesn't it? Any sport or event from outside that is by definition evil and doesn't count for Sporting Capital of the World [sup]TM[/sup] calculations.

 

[Atomic]

Should provide some good ideas for this weekend's tifo

 

[midfielder]

It's not only the AFL .. some very clever people in the NRL are saying the SOO cannont be moved and the WC will just have to not happen as the SOO is so important...

Where is Simon Hill when you need him... we need another can you smell the fear article

http://www.theroar.com.au/2009/12/08/nrl-rejects-ffa-proposal-for-world-cup-year/

By Tom Wald
Today

The Roar's top rugby league writers.

NRL rejects FFA proposal for World Cup year

Australias bid to host the 2018 or 2022 FIFA World Cups has hit a snag with the NRL rejecting a proposed schedule from Football Federation Australia. The FFA handed the rival code a document last month outlining how the NRL season could play out during a World Cup year.

An NRL spokesman said there were aspects in the proposal that clearly didnt work for the rugby league competition on a day Football Federation Australia took a kicking from rival codes.

But that does not mean we are throwing it out the window, the spokesman said.

We are certainly keen to find a way through it but some of what is proposed clearly does not work.

We will meet with them later this week.

The FFA has until May, the due date for its World Cup bid book to be handed to FIFA, to have all the relevant sporting bodies and stadia on board.

NRL chief executive David Gallop said his code was supportive of the World Cup bid but it could not come at any price.

We are not trying to stand in the way of the World Cup bid but we are not prepared to fall off the face of the planet either, he said.

It was a tough day for the FFA, particularly for chief executive Ben Buckley.

Fresh from pressing the flesh with soccer powerbrokers in South Africa, a jet-lagged Buckley returned home and immediately had to hose down fears that hosting the World Cup could lead to the cancellation of an AFL season.

His old boss, AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou, had set tongues when he claimed that staging the premier sporting event could make the MCG off limits for the AFL for four months effectively killing off an AFL season.

That prompted further carefully-designed attacks on the FFA from Gallop and MCG boss Stephen Gough, both calling for more information on how Australias bid will affect them.

So instead of talking to the media about the merits of the Socceroos draw for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, Buckley had to publicly reiterate his stance that no stadium would be out of action for any longer than eight weeks if Australias bid was successful.

And just six weeks if the arena only hosted group fixtures.

Such a length of time is likely to cause severe disruption rather than the cancellation of an NRL or AFL season.

The drama acted as a timely reminder to Buckley that Australias fight to claim World Cup hosting rights had to be won at both home and abroad.

And that he must keep rival codes on side before the host countries for the 2018 and 2022 Cups are named next December.

Buckley said the FFA would discuss with soccers governing body, FIFA, the possibility of Australias other football codes continuing their competitions during a World Cup.

The prospect of their code being so heavily overshadowed surely wouldnt be an attractive path for either the AFL or NRL to travel down.

Then Buckley played the card that will be used to settle any squabbling with soccers rivals.

We think the World Cup is bigger than any individual sport, he said.

It is the biggest sporting event in the world, it has significant economic benefits to Australia and enhances our standing as a nation around the world and enormous social benefits.

I think everybody understands that it is just a matter of working together, and constructively, and we will find some solutions.

 

[marinermick]

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=wall&ref=nf&gid=2249582179