Australia's bid for the 2018 or 2022 World Cup

[goingtoadisco]

Always thought sfc should play at that ground.

 

[dibo]

why?

 

[goingtoadisco]

Its west + Good size capacity for them.

 

[Jesus]

WA govt has put 80mil aside in the budget for upgraded stand at ME Bank stadium perth. Apparently the upgrade is linked to not having a rectangular stadium for WC bid and will lift capcity to 25 k. Presumably also increasing the corporate facilities that are underdone.

Wont be started til 2012 though, and is reliant on agreeing a deal with town of vincent.

 

[midfielder]

WA govt has put 80mil aside in the budget for upgraded stand at ME Bank stadium perth. Apparently the upgrade is linked to not having a rectangular stadium for WC bid and will lift capcity to 25 k. Presumably also increasing the corporate facilities that are underdone.

Wont be started til 2012 though, and is reliant on agreeing a deal with town of vincent.

This is an article about  it ... East Perth - Vincent, wonder what kinda town it is and why the town may have issues given they already have a stadium....

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/newshome/7256618/state-offices-to-leave-cbd/

And substantial funding for a new rectangular sports stadium in East Perth is likely, although its immediate future hinges on stalled negotiations between the Government and the Town of Vincent amid speculation its cost has blown out from a working figure of $160 million to as much as $260 million

 

[midfielder]

Funding does not seem to be an issue.... from smh...

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/secret-28b-plan-to-rival-olympics-20100521-w1s0.html

Secret $2.8b plan to rival Olympics
MATTHEW MOORE
May 22, 2010
The NSW Government has entered a series of confidential agreements for the biggest upgrade of sporting facilities since the Olympics that will take effect if Australia's wins its bid to host the football World Cup.

A decade after the Sydney Olympics were staged in facilities which cost $1.6 billion, the NSW government has negotiated cost-sharing principles with the federal government under which it will help fund a new $270 million soccer stadium at Blacktown and upgrades to three other stadiums.

Construction of three new stadiums and improvements to nine others across the country are part of a $2.8 billion national stadium program which is the centrepiece of the bid to host the 2018 or 2022 World Cups.

While the $2.8 billion estimate has been made public by Football Federation Australia, the federal and NSW governments are refusing to reveal who will meet construction or maintenance costs of the biggest sporting ground construction program in Australia's history.

Federal Sport Minister Kate Ellis confirmed the ''Commonwealth government has reached an agreement on cost-sharing with state and territory governments to meet World Cup requirements'' but she did not reveal the share each state would carry.

NSW Events Minister Ian Macdonald said while it was guaranteed the stadiums would be built in the event of a successful bid, it was too early to say how much NSW taxpayers would contribute.

''The NSW government is discussing an appropriate commonwealth contribution to the cost of any new stadium,'' he said.

''FIFA's protocols ask bidding nations to make commitments to deliver the infrastructure required but the exact details are not negotiated until the successful host nation is named and negotiations commence for the signing of the final agreements.''

The biggest cost to NSW will be a 41,000-seat stadium at Blacktown where the Olympic baseball fields were built.

A Blacktown City Council spokeswoman said the council had struck its own agreement with the state government on construction of the venue but would not reveal details.

''At this time details are commercial in confidence,'' she said.

After the massive construction program for the Sydney Olympics, there is certain to be debate about the need for a new stadium at Blacktown and whether it will be well-used after the World Cup.

The council's spokeswoman said it had asked the NSW government for ''preliminary business planning'', so it could work out funding plans in the event of a successful bid.

She said it was too early to be specific about who would meet the costs of running the stadium once the World Cup was over .

''Blacktown City Council and the state government will be very mindful of optimising legacy benefits from a stadium for the World Cup including the development and management of the stadium, and the impact on other sports who use the current facilities or who have proposals already developed for future use,'' she said.

With 300,000 people, Blacktown has the largest population of any local government area in NSW and is expected to reach 500,000 by 2025, which is a good reason to put a new stadium in the city, the spokeswoman said.

 

[dru]

This is an article about  it ... East Perth - Vincent, wonder what kinda town it is and why the town may have issues given they already have a stadium....

Vincent is the local government area directly North of the CBD. Generally residential but close to everything in the CBD. I would assume the fears are about how much money council will have to invest into the stadium and that when expanded the stadium will have an excessive visual impact on the area around it considering at the moment you don't see a lot of the stadium from street level.

I hope that the retain the terracing in that ground though.

 

[Jesus]

This is an article about  it ... East Perth - Vincent, wonder what kinda town it is and why the town may have issues given they already have a stadium....

Vincent is the local government area directly North of the CBD. Generally residential but close to everything in the CBD. I would assume the fears are about how much money council will have to invest into the stadium and that when expanded the stadium will have an excessive visual impact on the area around it considering at the moment you don't see a lot of the stadium from street level.

I hope that the retain the terracing in that ground though.

I think the current issues are regarding ownership. The town owns the stadium, and i think the govt may be looking at owning it or at least partially if they are investing 80mil into it

 

[midfielder]

Thank you Kiwis ... NZ back Australia's bid...

http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/2018-world-cup/news/1003672/Kiwi-support-for-Aussie-bid

New Zealand officially announced its support of Australia's bid to host the FIFA World Cup in 2018 or 2022 with its All Whites national team unveiling a banner with the words 'FIFA, pass us the ball and Come Play!'.

New Zealand Football chairman Frank van Hattum acknowledged an Australian-hosted FIFA World Cup would be a unique opportunity for New Zealand sporting fans.

World Cup participation has done wonders for the game in Australia and the signs are it could have a similar effect in New Zealand, but having the worlds biggest sporting event in our neighbourhood would take the game to new heights on both sides of the Tasman, van Hattum said.

Van Hattum also said the close ties Football Federation Australia had maintained with both New Zealand Football and the Oceania Football Confederation, meant New Zealand was a natural ally.

Our two associations continue to have a close relationship at all levels of the game. Australia also contributes to the social development of the Pacific region through football, said FFA CEO Ben Buckley.

Australia as a host nation would provide an opportunity for the Oceania Football Confederation to be part of, and benefit from, the FIFA World Cup on the doorstep to Oceania.

As part of its FIFA World Cup preparations the Socceroos defeated the New Zealand All Whites 2-1 at the MCG on 24 May. Both teams will be competing in the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

 

[Jazzie]

Nicky Carle cut from Socceroos but set to be Sydney FC's marquee player
Not entirely unexpected ... would have liked to have seen him in the squad tho'.

http://www.smh.com.au/world-cup-2010/world-cup-news/nicky-carle-cut-from-socceroos-but-set-to-be-sydney-fcs-marquee-player-20100525-w9f2.html?autostart=1

 

[goingtoadisco]

Jazzie why did you post that here ?

 

[midfielder]

Gotta give it to the Melbourne AFL media... first we have Ch 7 doing the a number of shows on the danger of going to SA... and now from the the age ...

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/club-power-is-real-passion/story-e6frf9if-1225869794156

BRACE yourself for an onslaught of artificial passion.

Everyone is about to become an expert. The Socceroos are about to play in a World Cup. Everyone is about to become an expert.

Those who could not give a toss about Australia's best soccer players for months on end suddenly will become flag-waving fans.

There are genuine supporters out there, of course, but the bandwagon will be full of part-timers.

It is all about national pride, agreed. But it is a matter of life or death for most? No.

Passion can not be turned on at the flick of a switch. It takes years to build, on a week-by-week basis.

It is precisely why club sports, built on tribal rivalries, produce the real emotion.

One scene on the siren at Etihad Stadium last Saturday night said it all.


A middle-aged North Melbourne fan sprang from his seat on the outer wing, punched the air and then slumped back in total relief. It was so animated, so joyous, you could not miss it even from the press box on the opposite wing.
North had stumbled home after running out of gas. It was hardly a game full of highlights but, for the bloke in blue and white, it was as sweet as it comes.

AFL, like other great club sports around the globe, gets in your bones. It's a disease that inflicts more pain than pleasure, but you can't shake it.

 

[midfielder]

Obi Wan... says the stadium issue has hurt our bid..

http://www.theroar.com.au/2010/05/29/lowy-concedes-stadia-squabble-hurt-world-cup-bid/

Lowy concedes stadia squabble hurt World Cup bid
Frank Lowy has admitted the unnecessary squabbling between football codes over stadia may have hurt Australias bid to host the 2018 or 2022 World Cup.

But the Football Federation Australia chairman is remaining defiant in the face of the latest criticism of Australias bid to host the showpiece tournament.

Leading football industry website World Football Insider this week produced a damning assessment of Australias bid, saying it had plummeted to seventh-best due to recent stadia dramas involving the AFL.

But Lowy on Friday slammed the report as a lot of nonsense before taking another pot shot at the AFLs hard-line approach to stadium availability.

There are 24 people who are going to make that decision (FIFA executive committee) and the people who write about it have no idea what they are talking about, he said at the opening of the Lowy Cancer Research Centre at the University of NSW.

Did it hurt us the squabbles about the stadia? Yes.

Did it hurt us very badly? Not that badly.

But I would have preferred not to have it because it should have and could have been sorted out totally differently.

The squabble wasnt necessary.

The AFLs decision to put its 54,000-seat Etihad Stadium off limits left Victoria with just two venues the MCG and Geelongs Skilled Stadium compared to a combined five in NSW/ACT.

Lowy reiterated his disappointment at the approach taken by the AFL.

I dont think they did the right thing, he said.

But we are all here now.

In Japan, the baseball laid down for the football World Cup and they had it.

I think it could have been a bit easier here.

AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou hit back later on Friday, claiming his code had been a fantastic supporter of the World Cup bid.

The AFL was fully cooperative during the whole World Cup bid process, said Demetriou, after being told of Lowys comments.

We have publicly stated we are supportive of the bid, we have given up five venues, which is the most of any code, to help the World Cup bid.

I am not sure where those comments came from but it might have been confused with grateful to the AFL.

 

[midfielder]

Three posts in one day ... it never rains...


But the report Obi was referring to.. the bid power index I don't know how to copy across ... so you can look up the link ...

http://www.worldfootballinsider.com/Story.aspx?id=33321

WFI) With 189 days until the FIFA Executive Committee decision on the hosts of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, the second edition of the WFI World Cup Bid Power Index shows the relative strengths and weaknesses of the nine bids.

England strengthens its grip on top spot in the second edition of the World Cup Bid Power Index, despite the bribery scandal of two weeks ago that forced the resignation of chairman David Triesman. The swift appointment of Geoff Thompson, a FIFA and UEFA vice president, will work to its advantage.

Qatar and Russia are close behind in second and third. The USA is ranked fourth.

Australia is the biggest loser in the bid index, sliding out of the top four from the No.2 position they occupied in the February edition. It has dropped to seventh place and is five points off its 2022 rival Qatar.

Across 10 categories, England scores 65 out of 100 possible points (up 1 point). Qatar follows with 63 (up 2 points), with Russia on 62 and the USA on 61 (both up 1 point).

Notching sub-60 scores are Australia, Holland-Belgium, Korea and Spain-Portugal. with 53 points, Japan is languishing well behind.

But there are promising signs for Holland-Belgium and Korea, who both improve by three points on the first World Cup Bid Power Index published in February.

The WFI Bid Power Index is the only regularly published review of World Cup bids that is based on expert analysis and first-hand contact with the bid nations, including interviews with bid leaders and information and figures from each of the bid launches.

The rankings are not meant to predict the outcome of the FIFA vote on Dec. 2, 2010, but to show the merits and drawbacks of the bidding nations at regular intervals before the decision.

The 10 categories are: bid operations/leadership; wow factor and unique selling points; relations with FIFA Executive Committee members; cost and funding resources; government and public support; international PR; venue plans; security; transport and accommodation; and legacy.


World Football Insider - 2018 / 2022 World Cup Bid Power Index - 26-May-2010


Bid Operations and Leadership
England 2018's change of leadership was the big story the weekend of the bid book handovers to FIFA on May 14. But the furore over the David Triesman affair should not completely overshadow an excellent bid with outstanding credentials. Geoff Thompson's appointment as new bid chairman may ultimately work to their advantage in terms of vote-getting; as a FIFA and UEFA vice president he is well-connected and an influential voice in football's corridors of power. The backlash against the Mail on Sunday newspaper's reporting of Triesman's bribery allegations has solidified already strong domestic support. FIFA president Sepp Blatter has hinted at a preference for the Russian bid, and his body language showed as much in Zurich 12 days ago. Even while trying to appear even-handed, he described bid CEO Alexey Sorokin as "my friend Alex". This was in stark contrast to his apparent reluctance to engage England's bid leaders. Holland-Belgium's new president Ruud Gullit articulates a good vision and in leading bid delegations around the world has certainly strengthened his country's campaign.

It's been a shambolic few months for Australia's leadership. Bid chiefs Frank Lowy and Ben Buckley have struggled to win the support of the AFL and other sporting codes. The fact that stadiums were only sorted a few days before the bid book handover raises serious questions about Australia's ability to deliver a World Cup. If it can't get domestic support, how can it expect to get international backing? Lack of feel for football among bid team executives - which has haemarraged senior figures since the start of the year - is starting to transmit to Australian soccer fans; the bid can't afford to have their scepticism allied with those of other codes. It has also raised further doubts among fellow AFC nations who are cold to their newest member in any case. Australia would have won some favours if they had made the decision to follow Japan in dropping out of the 2018 World Cup bidding contest to focus on landing the 2022 tournament.

Korea have a strong bid operations and leadership team but they are finding it hard to make an international impression. Japan has bolstered its leadership with the addition of major business leaders coupled with royal and government backing, but it's struggling to articulate what its pitch stands for or why it deserves a second go. Qatar's young and dynamic leadership continues to impress, notably at the bid book handover when chairman Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani delivered an assured performance with FIFA chief Sepp Blatter watching on. Spain-Portugal's president Angel Maria Villar Llona may sit at FIFA's top table but the bid is languishing behind its European rivals in communicating its vision globally.

Wow Factor/Unique Selling Points
England maintains its top-ranking in this category; there's no doubting its capacity to deliver an incredible World Cup using some of the most iconic venues on the planet. Australia's major event experience contributed to it level pegging with England in the previous index. But its wow factor is diminished by its squabbles with other sporting codes and eleventh-hour decision on naming a finals venue. The comments of Football Federation Australia chairman Frank Lowy at the bid book presentation in Zurich were telling. "We hope and pray that we might be the lucky country," Lowy said. Hardly the stuff of a well-organised and confident bid. Qatar's aspiration to host the first World Cup in the Middle East is an important part of its narrative but despite some interesting ideas in stadium cooling technologies it lacks the dazzle factor. Holland-Belgium's "green" World Cup pitch was unexpected and original (if you can discount Indonesia's unlamented efforts), but whether this will gain credence with the FIFA executive is another matter.

Relations with FIFA Executive
Qatar is emerging as a serious contender for 2022 after continuing to provide answers to practical questions, mainly alleviating fears over playing football in a hot climate. Blatter seemed enamoured with the idea of a Middle Eastern bid, and one from such a small country, at the bid book handover. He seems enthusiastic, but are fellow ex-co members? Qatari Mohamed Bin Hammam, president of the Asian Football Confederation, continues to be hugely significant to Qatar's chances especially with South Korea gathering momentum. Overtures to North Korea might be rhetorical, Frank Lowy with Sepp Blatter. Australia drops out of the top four in the second edition of the World Cup Bid Power Index (Getty Images) but are enticing to a FIFA Ex-co obsessed with making history. Well received by FIFA executive committee members; bidding for just 2022 now looks a wise bid and has got them a degree of leverage with European bids. Low cost and reliable. Football-mad population - as we are likely to witness in South Africa this summer - and a vibrant football culture are big USPs against other Asian contenders.

No doubting Spain-Portugal's good relations with the FIFA executive but they offer no compelling reasons why they should be awarded the World Cup. Serious questions remain about their commitment to each other; why has Spain got 16 host cities, but Portugal has only two? Bids from England and Holland-Belgium appear to be making more friends internationally on their travels abroad - and are keenly publicising their trips.

Cost/Funding Resources
No major changes here. Free-spending Russia and Qatar can be expected to blow holes in their significant bid budgets in the coming months. They threw thousands at sponsorship of the Soccerex European Forum in Manchester and will also have a major presence at Soccerex Asia in Singapore in July. Both are spending billions on venues and infrastructure. Australia has adopted a more low-key approach and doesn't have the money to splash out on major promotional activities. It only boasts Qantas and Cisco as official bid partners. Sponsorships for England have come thick and fast in recent weeks, putting the bid on a good financial footing and maintaining its global profile as the campaign steps up. Sports manufacturer Umbro last week became the fifth top-tier partner, joining England 2018 partners Morrisons, BT, British Airways and PriceWaterhouseCoopers in a deal worth around $1.4 million.

Government and Public Support
As it did with the Sochi 2014 Olympics, the Russian government is making the World Cup bid a priority project. Britain's new Conservative-Liberal Democrats coalition government has got straight behind England 2018. On coming to power earlier this month, Prime Minister David Cameron said: The FIFA World Cup is a cause that unites the nation like no other. Football is at the heart of so many of our communities and there can be no doubt that England would offer a warm and passionate welcome to fans and players in 2018. We will do everything in our power to help win the honour of hosting this prestigious event. New UK sports minister Hugh Robertson is also having an excellent first few weeks in the job and making positive noises about the bid.

Australia's bid chief Frank Lowy said his country was united behind the bid and promised "the best World Cup that ever was" two weeks ago. But it's hard to see the truth in this statement. The battles with rival sporting codes are not over. The Socceroos drew 55,000 for their friendly 2-1 win over New Zealand at the MCG yesterday but other sports like the AFL and rugby codes have deeper roots in Australia and a much bigger fanbase that is being disillusioned by the bid team's demands to other sports over scheduling and stadia use if the country were to stage the tournament. Japan enjoys good public backing. Blatter revealed on May 14 that he had received a personal letter from Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatayama citing his support for his countrys bid. The USA's latest bid ambassador, former US president Bill Clinton, shows it is gaining heavyweight political support. But president Barack Obama seems reluctant to come around to soccer and won't be attending this summer's World Cup.

International Public Relations
Japan's 208 smiles concept looks like an ill-conceived marketing project. Two weeks ago Blatter praised the originality of the Japanese World Cup bid, which was presented to him via a Sony PSP gaming device in a glass display case. But such gimmicks mean little to FIFA's decision-makers. Holland-Belgium's leader Ruud Gullit is well-connected and with Dutch legend Johann Cruyff now on board they are winning the charm offensive and boosting the bid's international profile in the run-in to Dec. 2. The joint bid's PR machine is a lot slicker than it was three months ago. England 2018 continue to trumpet their visits to see FIFA Ex-co members. The Iberian bid only launched its website last month and loses a mark for failing to do anything to generate publicity in the media outside of Spain and Portugal. England, Qatar and the USA are perhaps the most active in promoting their bids on social media networks like Twitter and Facebook. David Beckham will be England 2018's star man in South Africa. After the FIFA Congress on June 10, the nine bidders take part in a bidding expo.

Venue Plans
With Wembley, Manchester United's Old Trafford and another seven Premier League grounds, England's stadia proposition puts it head and shoulders above the other eight bids. Australia again loses ground owing to the fact it finalised its venues just a few days before the May 14 bid book handover. Three new stadiums will be built and nine others upgraded in 10 cities if the bid is successful. Qatar revealed its $4 billion stadium construction budget, part of the massive investment in improving the countrys infrastructure. Its stadium cooling systems unveiled in recent weeks are said to represent an environmentally friendly solution to the problem of Dohas searing heat. The USA's stadium package offers FIFA a big-money World Cup - 18 stadiums with an average capacity of 76,000.

Security
Most of the bidders don't make bid book security highlights available. But England 2018 trumpets its world-leading status in football safety and security and being at the forefront of counter-terrorism strategy. "Through the close coordination of relevant agencies, we ensure the safe and smooth running of approximately 3,000 professional matches every season throughout England," the bid book says. As in the February index, Russia's recent history of terrorist attacks presents the most risk to FIFA. The recent subway bombings in Moscow again demonstrated its serious problems with terrorism. But it's major event experience, including the 2008 UEFA Champions League final between Manchester United and Chelsea, will be used to silence naysayers.

Transport/Accommodation
The US bid's transport system is one of the best but the distance between cities and venues raises questions over whether they would be able to fill stadia for low-profile World Cup matches. Russia's transport and accommodation infrastructure requires billion-dollar investment. The other European bids, together with Japan and South Korea, have well-established public transport networks capable of moving large numbers of football fans and do not have significant issues in accommodating visitors. In promising the greenest World Cup ever, Holland-Belgium has an original plan - two million free bicycles would be available for fans to cycle to World Cup matches. Qatar gains a point. It is developing a modern integrated railway system in collaboration with German railway experts Deutsche Bahn. The multi-billion dollar project includes a high-speed rail link to Bahrain. Qatar's proposed 110,000 hotel rooms with 90,000 available to FIFA assuage some doubts about the ability of a small nation to cope with such a massive tournament

Legacy
Qatar's new cooling technologies offer a solution to the summer heat and its willingness to share the technological knowledge with other nations offers a legacy to football in hot climates. Modular stadium plans offer generous legacy to Asian football, with Qatar committed to distributing 170,000 stadium seats to poorer nations through ROTA (Reach out to Asia) programme. For England, the Football United global sports development fund showcases and builds on the excellent development work done by the Football Association in Africa. The USA represents a safe pair of hands and it has a new line on legacy, which lifts it by a point in the rankings. US Soccer chief Sunil Gulati's claim that a World Cup will assure America's status as a "soccer nation" is surely appealing to FIFA. Likewise the massive tickets sales and TV revenue guaranteed.

Much has been made of Russia's legacy, but questions remain as to how it will be delivered. Nearly 20 years after the fall of communism, transport, hotels and communications remain substandard in many places outside of Moscow; can Russia really deliver on its promises in eight years, or will it be like Ukraine - whose problems in delivering Euro 2012 have nearly seen it stripped of the tournament? Russia's First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov says that Russia's economy is much larger, but why hasn't it delivered before now? Legacy is also focussed on Russia and its neighbouring republics, which may limit its appeal to fellow FIFA Ex-co members when England and Qatar are so active in promoting football-led development in Africa and Asia respectively.


Written by World Football Insider editor Mark Bisson (mark@worldfootballinsider.com) and European correspondent James Corbett (james@worldfootballinsider.com)


Your best source of news about the global football business is World Football Insider.

 

[Jesus]

The index comes 2nd fiddle to voodoo economists when deciding where the world cup goes

 

[curious]

The stadiums the US have in their final submission make my mouth water. If you haven't seen them....  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_2018_and_2022_FIFA_World_Cup_bid

It also shows all those that were excluded from the bid. It would be nice to have just a fraction of those here.

 

[Arabmariner]

The stadiums the US have in their final submission make my mouth water. If you haven't seen them....  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_2018_and_2022_FIFA_World_Cup_bid

It also shows all those that were excluded from the bid. It would be nice to have just a fraction of those here.

Great stadiums no doubt but no roof on most of them.

Pish for singing.

 

[curious]

I use the shower for that. It has a roof too.

 

[Jesus]

Reading all the article suggesting world cup match fixing, and the guy evem talks about australia.

Why would asian bookies try to influence australian league games? The FFA already does, so their odds would be small

 

[midfielder]

Working like a dog in Fiji ad took a couple of seconds off ... and found this in the age... FFA got very close to calling off the bid because of the Afl..

http://www.theage.com.au/world-cup-2010/world-cup-news/outrageous-afl-stance-nearly-stopped-cup-bid-20100530-wngq.html

'Outrageous' AFL stance nearly stopped cup bid MICHAEL LYNCH, JOHANNESBURG
May 31, 2010

AUSTRALIA'S bid to host the World Cup finals in 2018 or 2022 was almost abandoned 12 days before the bid book was due to be submitted in Switzerland because of ''outrageous'' demands by the AFL, a source close to the bid has told The Age.

The book was eventually lodged, but, as a result of the AFL's demands, Victoria will have far fewer games than New South Wales should Australia win the right to host the tournament.

As talks continued ahead of the May 14 deadline for confirming the application, the source, who asked not to be named, said that Football Federation Australia and the federal government had virtually given up on getting an agreement and were prepared to shelve the bid.

''It got to the point where it didn't seem there was much point, and the federal government had agreed with the FFA that we might not go on with the bid,'' he said. ''There were some outrageous demands from left field by the AFL.''

In the end, a truce of sorts was brokered and the bid to host either the 2018 or 2022 World Cup - which has been underwritten by more than $45 million-worth of taxpayer funds - was confirmed, which allowed the bid book to be submitted to world soccer's governing body, FIFA, on time.

The source said that, while discussions with the NRL and the ARU have been robust, those with the AFL have been more testy.

The main source of argument has been over stadium availability and whether the AFL would be allowed to stage games in World Cup cities should Australia's bid succeed.

Another source expressed disappointment at the lack of support the Victorian government had given the FFA in its discussions with AFL chief Andrew Demetriou and his team during the tense months leading up to the date of the bid book's submission.

He said that such was the opposition from AFL powerbrokers in Melbourne that the FFA had even considered rejigging the bid so that no games would be scheduled in the state.

Under the deal that was hammered out, Victoria will get games if the bid succeeds, but far fewer than NSW, where there are more venues and less opposition from the competing football codes.

Etihad Stadium will not be available for the World Cup, with stadium boss Ian Collins ruling out its availability for the tournament. It will instead host AFL matches.

In Victoria, games will be played at the MCG and an upgraded Skilled Stadium in Geelong, which will require millions of dollars of investment to bring it up to a planned 44,000 capacity.

In contrast, NSW will get games at Stadium Australia, Sydney Football Stadium, Newcastle Stadium and a new rectangular venue at Blacktown. NSW fans will also get easy access to the games scheduled in Canberra.

The escalating rows over ground availability and the opposition of the AFL has led some within the game to question what sort of legacy will be left for soccer given the hundreds of millions of dollars being spent on infrastructure upgrades for venues synonymous with other sports.

The AFL will be a particular beneficiary, with massive sums required for upgrades to Adelaide Oval and for the development of a new stadium in Perth.

However, most believe the net gain for soccer will outweigh the leg-up the other codes will get, as soccer will receive 12 years-worth of mounting media exposure and significantly increased investment from corporate sponsors and backers.

It could also do the thing that worries the AFL most: capture the interest of the country's elite young athletes, who might choose to play the sport in which they could represent their country against the rest of the world on home soil rather than Australian football or either of the two rugby codes.