Australia's bid for the 2018 or 2022 World Cup

[midfielder]

Interesting ... HMMMMMMMMMmm

http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/news/1022333/Oz-tactics-thwart--US-cup-bid

Oz tactics thwart US cup bid

10 September 2010-SBS

The USA's chances of landing the right to host the 2022 World Cup have taken a dive following some clever tactics by one of its biggest rivals, Australia


The USA which, unlike Australia, is still bidding for the 2018 and 2022 events, finds itself in a quandary after recent indications by FIFA president Sepp Blatter that the 2018 event will go to Europe.

Bllatter was quoted as saying in German newspaper Sport Bild this week: “The way it looks, Europe can more than just hope to host the 2018 World Cup. This is not being questioned internationally, [and] neither in the FIFA executive committee.”

This is seen as the strongest signal yet that Europe is home and hosed for 2018 since Blatter’s controversial comments in January suggesting that only European bidders should be considered for that event.

The comments in January caused a furore in Australia which, at the time, was still among the bidders for 2018.

But in June Australia withdrew from bidding for the 2018 edition, causing much relief to FIFA’s top brass which was under great pressure to take the World Cup back to Europe after 12 years.

FIFA secretary-general Jerome Valcke said at the time: “The FFA have displayed an exemplary level of solidarity with Europe and the European bidding nations and were among the very first to enter into an open and constructive dialogue with me after it became apparent that there was a growing movement to stage the 2018 World Cup in Europe.

”Their announcement of today, therefore, to henceforth focus solely on bidding for the 2022 World Cup is a welcome gesture that is much appreciated by FIFA's leadership and executive committee.”

The gesture bought much kudos with the governing body’s hierarchy for Australia, putting it on the front foot as a strong and realistic bidder for 2022.

The ploy caught the Americans by surprise and the US bidders, now with no hope of landing 2018, find themselves wondering if they have been outsmarted by the Australians.

A similar move and gesture by the Americans now would be seen by FIFA as catch-up, copycat politics, lessening their chances of winning the bid over Australia for hosting in 2022.

 

[midfielder]

Poms pull out of 2022

http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/news/1024663/England-to-withdraw-bid

 

[northernspirit]

clearly a deal between england and usa bid teams to support each others bids - eng 2018 / usa 2022... usa is the only nation bidding from CONCACAF ensuring full support whilst AFC is split and has Australia, Japan, South Korea and Qatar so our bid is in trouble imo

 

[Forum Phoenix]

Shit.
Please, we need this FIFA.

 

[midfielder]

HHHMMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmm BBC seem to think we are the one to beat ... decent article ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/mattslater/2010/09/why_its_advance_australia_fair.html


Why it's advance Australia fair for 2022
Post categories: Football

Matt Slater | 17:04 UK time, Wednesday, 29 September 2010

White smoke was spotted over Wembley on Tuesday as David Dein, the international president of England's World Cup bid, confirmed the nation was about to pull out of the race to stage the competition in 2022 and focus its efforts on winning the vote to host the 2018 edition.

In related news, the BBC understands the Vatican City is set to make a statement about the Pope's religious leanings and the International Association for Bear Research and Management is on the verge of discovering what bears do in the woods.

Please do not think I am ungrateful to Dein for clearing up this matter of almost no debate, on the contrary. With England out of the picture for 2022, we can now look dispassionately at what I think is the more interesting of Fifa's two World Cup choices.


On a personal level, I care more about the result of the likely England v Russia v Spain/Portugal tussle for Europe's turn in 2018.

But on a professional level, I am intrigued about the challenge world football's governing body has set itself when it makes its 2022 decision in Zurich on 2 December.

By deciding to choose two World Cups in one sitting, Fifa is probably giving itself an eight-year break from the hassle of choosing where next to take its biggest event/fundraiser but it is also stretching the limits of what can be safely predicted about the type of World Cup the world's game will need/want in 12 years' time.

This question was foremost in my mind (honest) when I went along to a press briefing by Japan's bid for the 2022 World Cup (they dropped their 2018 claim a few months back) in London last week. With the Land of the Rising Sun up against Australia, Qatar, South Korea and the United States, I was hoping for illumination. I certainly got that.

"The initial reaction is this is a gimmick. Getting past that has been a communication challenge."

Gulp. Journalists are usually ready for anything - tight deadlines, bored interviewees, long lunches - but there are still a few things that catch us unawares: the truth, for example.

So when sports marketing guru and Japan bid advisor Patrick Nally stood up at the end of the presentation and admitted the pitch is a bit, erm, gimmicky and no, the voters don't get it...well, I was pleasantly surprised and a tiny bit relieved.

Surprised because bidders for major sports events never acknowledge "challenges" until things start falling down and relieved because this suggests Fifa will be making its 2022 choice for more old-fashioned reasons than which country can provide the most revolutionary "football contents" and the best "hyper applications".

I write "suggests" because reading too much into the nuanced language of bidding contests is a recipe for that journalistic favourite, egg served on a bed of face.

But I'm willing to stick my neck out here, Japan's bid will need more than the promise of lots more TV cameras at each game (200 compared to South Africa's barely adequate 30), a nod to this century being "Asia's" and something worthy about educational activities for 6,000 youngsters.

Those not-so-unique selling points are prerequisites for bids these days and Fifa's 24 Executive Committee members, the electorate, will want to hear more about breaking new ground, providing the best stage for the world's greatest players and what this World Cup will do for football's march towards international sporting dominance.

Planting flagpoles on virgin territory plays very well at Fifa HQ and the "been there, done that" effect will not help Japan's cause, or that of South Korea, Japan's 2002 World Cup partner, which has also thrown its hat into the 2022 ring. The 17th World Cup was a cracker but it was only eight years ago.

Qatar, on the other hand, will be pinning its hopes on Sepp Blatter's pioneering instincts. The Fifa boss has a deciding vote in the case of a tie and his influence is considerable. Having taken the tournament to Africa, a first ever Arab World Cup would look great on his CV.

Unfortunately, that is the only place a Qatari World Cup makes sense. With a population of just over 1.6m and average daytime temperatures in excess of 40 degrees, the desert kingdom's bid is even more gimmicky than Japan's.

The Middle East clearly needs to diversify its economy, and football in the region should be encouraged, but does Qatar need a dozen air-conditioned, Fifa-standard football grounds (not to mention the facilities and hotel beds required to stage a month-long tournament that features 32 teams and 64 games)?

I don't think we will have to wait until December for an answer to that. The chairman of Fifa's inspection team, Chile's marvellously-monikered Harold Mayne-Nicholls, put the kibosh on Qatar earlier this month when he said staging a World Cup there "would pose a number of logistical challenges".

There's that c-word again. Nobody likes a challenge.

With this in mind, the US package looks strong: large sports-mad population, proven track record in staging big events, no obvious infrastructure weaknesses and plenty of scope for commercial activity.

On the minus side, like Japan and South Korea, memories of the American World Cup in 1994 are still fresh. But unlike its Asian rivals, the US bid has the unequivocal support of its neighbouring countries - it's not just Labour Party elections where bloc votes are significant.

But will this be enough to make up for a slightly lacklustre campaign (buried within Mayne-Nicholls's farewell platitudes were concerns about the reliance on NFL stadia and an overly inward focus to the bid's legacy plans)?

This brings me to the bid that survived the inspection visits with the brightest prospects.

Asian-facing but with ties to world football's Oceania region, Australia ticks a lot of boxes. Infrastructure, track record, sporting tradition, nice weather, decent food, it's hard to pick holes. The country's politicians even called a time-out during the recent election campaign to show Mayne-Nicholls and co a united front. He seemed to approve.

It is still too early to talk about hot favourites and rank outsiders - more will be known when Fifa releases the technical reports next month - but Down Under is looking a decent bet for 2022.

As well as my blogs, you can follow me when I'm out and about at http://twitter.com/bbc_matt

 

[midfielder]

Julia needs Sepp.....

Australia revved up to win football world cup bid: PM
Paola Totaro
October 4, 2010

Australia’s bid to win football's World Cup in 2022 has been likened to a “Formula One driver, ready at the starting line, with car fully fuelled and the engine on”, the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard has been told.

Less than an hour after landing in Brussels after a whistlestop visit to Zurich, Ms Gillard said that while FIFA chairman Sepp Blatter plays his “cards close to his chest”, it was he who had likened the Australian bid to a Formula One race.

”It was his terminology ... but whether we win the race ... well, we will know in December.

“Obviously, we urged him to see the merits of our Cup bid ... we are a great sporting nation, one of the biggest in the world and Australia has a great track record running such events including the Olympics and Commonwealth Games ... this was a great opportunity to talk through the bid before December” she said

Ms Gillard landed in the Belgian capital overnight for a two-day meeting between European and Asian leaders, which aims to build on the centuries-old economic and trade ties between the two continents – and where Australia, with New Zealand and Russia will take a seat at the table for the first time.

“Australia has pressed for a long time to have this option. It is a significant gathering, particularly in our interest when the economy and trade are discussed. We are a great trading nation and trade equals jobs, so this is a great opportunity to see so many world leaders in one place” she said.

Brussels, under heavy security after heightened alerts of a terrorist strike in Europe, is hosting 27 European leaders and more than a dozen Asian leaders as a fragile European Union (EU) turns to the east to boost trade and support a still fragile economic recovery.

Ms Gillard said she will meet the Secretary General of NATO, Anders Fogh Rasmussen later today and is expected to meet the French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel and Japanese Prime Minister.

She said she did not want to make assumptions about what Mr Rasmussen might ask for but made clear that if there was a need for additional equipment or commitments, “we will respond to that”.

She arrived in Europe after a secret diversion to Afghanistan for separate meetings with the allied commander, General David Petraeus, and the Afghan President, Hamid Karzai.

As well as discussing the war with Mr Karzai, Ms Gillard raised the issue of the return of Afghan asylum seekers found not to be refugees.

The Labour government has just lifted a six-month freeze on processing Afghan arrivals.

Today, Ms Gillard said that the number of claims has gone down and the message from Australia would continue to be that if people are “not genuine refugees, they will be returned”.

The Brussels meeting is also scheduled to discuss climate change, with carbon emissions trading systems on the agenda. Ms Gillard would only say that Australia did not want to see a return to protectionism “under another guise”.

Known as ASEM (Asia-Europe Meeting), the summit was established in 1996 as an informal attempt to encourage dialogue between Europe and the East.

The EU’s 27 member states are keen to find a way to further boost the pace of economic recovery while carefully measuring and acclimatizing to the burgeoning power of its eastern partners.

All up, the 48 nations represented within ASEM cover more than half of the world’s economic output, some 58 per cent of the global population and 60 per cent of global trade.

According to EU figures, trade and economic cooperation between European and Asian countries has boomed in the past few years. Goods trade between Europe, the 18 Asian ASEM countries and Russia, has nearly doubled, rising from €54.6 billion to more than €100 billion between 2000 and 2008.

The credit crash slashed this by 20 per cent, with both imports and exports affected but there has been small growth this year.

In the first half of this year, the ASEM partners accounted for 29 per cent of EU exports and 45 per cent of imports and the EU has now also become the leading market for many Asian countries, including China and South Korea.

The EU, still struggling in the wake of the financial crisis is now poised to embark on a massive austerity program aimed at reducing its burgeoning sovereign debt.

 

[elevated position]

I think a couple of the things in our favor is that football(Aleague) is going through a tough period at the moment (sentiment vote) and when presented with the attendance figures the other codes have they can see we could make big inroads with nearly twelve years of preparation.
The downside for me if we don't get it Lowey will walk away from the sport and the vacumn might be just to big to fill.

 

[northernspirit]

Following article kinda shows our bid has been in trouble, were effectively now bribing with multi millions of $ - effective but i think its an attempt to take away some of USA's momentum - Jack Warner is a powerful man in world football, its a very shrewd grant, hopefully it does the intended trick!


http://au.fourfourtwo.com/news/185035,60-million-vow-for-bid-support.aspx


EXCLUSIVE: Australia has pledged $60 million to sports projects in the Caribbean to win Jamaican backing for Football Federation Australia's bid to host the 2022 World Cup.

The Jamaican press yesterday celebrated the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Jamaica and the FFA, throwing their weight behind the Australian campaign to hold the FIFA tournament.

The FFA's John Boultbee signed the deal with local government and football officials in Jamaica over the weekend, watched by the FFA's special World Cup bid consultant Peter Hargitay.

According to the local Jamaica Observer: "The Australian government has indicated it will be spending some sixty-million Australian dollars for such programmes throughout the Caribbean.

"The FFA will provide support to the ministry and the JFF for CONCACAF and other JFF-related projects in Jamaica from funds made available by the Australian government for sports development programmes in the Caribbean.

"The MOU details the technical and socio-political co-operation in sports between Jamaica and Australia, and in particular between the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture and the JFF and their respective Australian counterparts."

The deal was signed to coincide with a visit to Jamaica by FIFA President Sepp Blatter, hot on the heels of his meeting with Australian PM Julia Gillard.

Jamaican Sports Minister Olivia Grange welcomed the pact and added: "I am very pleased with this MOU between my ministry and the JFF on one side and Football Federation Australia.

"Its provisions mean significant assistance to enhance Government's sports development programmes and it provides support for the JFF's programme for football development in Jamaica."

Horace Reid, General secretary of the JFF, said the MOU "will assist greatly in facilitating and accelerating the development of our football infrastructure".

It's understood the government has been asked by the FFA to use money from the Federal Government's Overseas Aid programme to support the Australian World Cup bid.

Rival sporting codes have already railed against the initial $45 million spent by the Government to help fund the World Cup bid while A-League club owners have complained about the lack of investment by the FFA into the local competition at the expense of the World Cup bid.

An FFA spokesman today confirmed the deal and added: "The commitment by the Government is for Australia to spend $60 million over four years in the Caribbean on cooperation in a number of areas of special mutual interest.

"Sport was specifically acknowledged as one of these areas."

 

[Forum Phoenix]

Overseas aid money that is already spent.
Just being used now in a more self interested way.
One Conacaf vote that otherwise would have gone US now is ours.
Good work.

 

[midfielder]

Very very very very interesting article....

Some key parts

Korea's FIFA vice-president Chung Mong-Joon - a possible challenger to Sepp Blatter in the presidential election in May - made a thinly-veiled attack against 2022 rivals the USA.


Chung said: "In spite of [China's] denial, the atmosphere within the AFC is not free from lingering suspicion that the rival bidding country might have entertained a wishful thinking to sway the bidding competition in its favour. FIFA attaches great value to the spirit of fair play and gentlemanly behaviour in football. My Asian colleagues believe that, if true, such attempts definitely deserve a yellow card, if not red.''

The USA's FIFA executive committee member Chuck Blazer has referred to the report of a China bid on his Twitter account. Blazer wrote above the link: "China 2026 bid strengthens United States 2022 campaign.''


The entire article ...

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=830621&cc=3436


Bin Hammam: Best World Cup bids may not win

The bidding contest for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups exploded into controversy on Thursday with one senior FIFA figure admitting the best bids may not win and another appearing to accuse the United States of dirty tricks.

Asian Federation president Mohamed Bin Hammam said the countries with the best marketing campaign may triumph rather than the best bid, and admitted that deals for votes will be taking place despite being banned by FIFA rules.

Meanwhile, Korea's FIFA vice-president Chung Mong-Joon - a possible challenger to Sepp Blatter in the presidential election in May - made a thinly-veiled attack against 2022 rivals the USA.

England 2018 have prided themselves on the quality of their bid, but Bin Hammam's remarks may cause some concern.

Bin Hammam said: "Whether the best candidates for 2018 and 2022 are going to win or not I'm not 100% sure because this depends more on public relations and how as a marketing person you sell your product. There is also a lack of clear written criteria. All the nine candidates today have their strong points and their weak points and you have to make a judgement yourself.''

Bin Hammam, a Qatari, said vote trading among FIFA executive committee members would be taking place. He told the Leaders in Football conference: "I will be naturally looking to the interests of Qatar because that is the bid for me. All the bidders are telling me 'Okay, if you vote for me I will vote for you,'.

"That must not be surprising to anybody. We the four members from the AFC have decided we would like to see 2022 in Asia and we are very frank about that. I'm talking about myself as a Qatari voter, I'm not talking about other committee members.''

Chung's allegations are potentially even more devastating after he claimed there were "lingering suspicions'' that a 2022 bid rival planted stories that China might bid for 2026 in order to sway support away from other Asian countries.

With the European countries expected to concentrate solely on bidding for 2018, there is just one 2022 bidder which is not part of the Asian Federation and that is the USA, whose bid team are privately furious at Chung's remarks.

Chung said: "In spite of [China's] denial, the atmosphere within the AFC is not free from lingering suspicion that the rival bidding country might have entertained a wishful thinking to sway the bidding competition in its favour. FIFA attaches great value to the spirit of fair play and gentlemanly behaviour in football. My Asian colleagues believe that, if true, such attempts definitely deserve a yellow card, if not red.''

The USA's FIFA executive committee member Chuck Blazer has referred to the report of a China bid on his Twitter account. Blazer wrote above the link: "China 2026 bid strengthens United States 2022 campaign.''

 

[midfielder]

Paraguay tips us to win the bid..

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/football/australias-world-cup-bid-wins-support-from-beaten-paraguay-coach-20101010-16dz0.html

Australia's World Cup bid wins support from beaten Paraguay coach
Angela Habashy

October 11, 2010

LESS than eight weeks before FIFA decides who will host the 2022 World Cup, Paraguay coach Gerardo Martino said Australia should be a shoo-in.

Martino watched his team go down 1-0 to the Socceroos at Sydney Football Stadium on Saturday, and the Argentinian, who first visited the country as a player almost 30 years ago, believes Australia is favourite to win the bid. ''It's very simple. You have already held a competition like the Olympics here, which was very good, and you have all the infrastructure, plus Australia is a first-world country,'' Martino said. ''I was here a long time ago playing in the '81 Youth World Championships, and even then I was impressed. So I think you have a very good chance to win your World Cup bid.''

Martino also believes the level of football in Australia and the Oceania region has improved in recent years.

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''I don't think there is a big gap between the level of South American football and Australian football at the moment,'' he said. ''Australia is very competitive. Countries like Australia, Japan and New Zealand all did very well at the World Cup this year so it's always good to get experience against them.''

Paraguay's Sunderland defender Paulo da Silva, who crosses paths with a number of Australians in the English Premier League, was also impressed with the calibre of players this country produces. ''Of course I'm aware of the Australians playing in England,'' he said. ''Players like Tim Cahill, [Brett] Emerton, [Richard] Garcia are all very well known in the Premier League.''

In aid of the bid, Sydney's iconic Harbour Bridge was covered with 11,000 square metres of grass to host 7500 people for Breakfast on the Bridge on Sunday.

A four-metre high football was rolled down the landmark by Football Federation Australia chairman Frank Lowy and chief executive Ben Buckley, with a selection of players from the Socceroos and Matildas.

''A FIFA World Cup in Australia will be fun, relaxed, safe and secure,'' Lowy said.

 

[midfielder]

Go Aussie great great article in the Herald sun…

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/opinion/editorials/back-australias-world-cup-bid/story-e6frfhqo-1225938890804

IN 48 days, Australia finds out if we will host soccer’s 2022 World Cup.

Considered by many the crown jewel of world sport, Australia – spearheaded by Melbourne – is vying for the prize against the US, Japan, Korea and Qatar.

As star Socceroo goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer said when the bid was launched: “Bringing the World Cup here would be bigger than anything we have ever seen before.”

Today, the Herald Sun urges all Victorians to galvanise in support of the bid.

Melbourne, after all, is the sporting capital of Australia. We boast one of the grandest stadiums in the world.

Our city hosts the Australian Open and a formula one grand prix each year. Our handling of the 2006 Commonwealth Games verged on perfect, in line with Australia’s fine history of hosting many varied major sporting events.

The Sydney Olympics were famously described as the “best ever”. There’s no reason the 2022 World Cup would not receive the same accolades.

As Football Federation Australia points out, we have the world’s “friendliest volunteers”. There are more hard-headed considerations, too.

By 2020, Asia will have four times the population of North America and Europe combined. Time zones mean Australia would be ideal for such a massive audience.

Victorians love sporting rituals, such as the last Saturday in September and the first Tuesday in November. Our sporting pride dates back further than the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games.

The World Cup would be worth an estimated $35.5 billion to the Australian economy, four times more than the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

Australia has performed admirably in the past two World Cups. The promise of grander triumphs only loom larger in the tournaments ahead.

Staging the event would not, as some have claimed, impinge on our proud AFL history, which is built on tribal parochialism. Footy will always remain our number one sport. The AFL’s reluctance to vacate some grounds during the 2022 season was resolved this year.

It is hoped this peace treaty between the AFL and soccer officialdom, for the sake of a tournament bigger by many measures than an Olympic Games, can remain intact and the AFL season can continue.

Soccer has grown sporadically over decades here. Now, finally, it has gathered traction, in part due to the countless cultures living in harmony here. The sport will only grow and grow in popularity between now and 2022.

Imagine 100,000 fans screaming for the Socceroos at the MCG in a World Cup blockbuster. It would certainly match the buzz of an AFL grand final.

 

[midfielder]

Good article..

http://worldfootballinsider.com/Story.aspx?id=33810

Exclusive: FIFA Delays Inspection Reports on 2018/2022 World Cup Bids

(WFI) FIFA will give a clearer picture on the frontrunners for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups when it publishes reports on the nine bidders next month based on its two-month summer inspection tour.

"The reports will be published mid-November. There will be one report for each bid," a FIFA spokesman tells INSIDER.

FIFA will not rank the bidders but the conclusions of the inspection commission chairman Harold Mayne-Nicholls and his team at the end of each bid report will give a good indication of the favourites to secure the two tournaments.

The timing of the report's publication conflicts with what the bid teams were originally told by FIFA.

The bidding nations were assured they would receive the reports the week of the FIFA Executive Committee, which takes place Oct. 28. At this meeting, members will decide the voting procedure for the Dec. 2 vote.

Why the two-week delay is unclear. The USA's bid for both the 2018 and 2022 World Cups is one possible complication affecting the compilation of the analyses.

FIFA may be waiting for the USA to withdraw its 2018 bid before finalising the reports. Many bid observers expect the move soon as the bid seeks goodwill and vote trading from the European bids in the final weeks of campaigning. But bid chairman Sunil Gulati has been consistently defiant when pressed on a timetable for withdrawal.

FIFA may also be giving the bids more time to answer concerns highlighted in the inspection team's initial conclusions that wrapped up each four-day visit over the summer.

England and Russia are tipped to earn favourable evaluations in their quest to host the 2018 World Cup.

Both have assembled strong bids, including impressive legacy cases that will appeal to FIFA. The countries occupy the top two places in INSIDER's September World Cup Bid Power Index.

FIFA's view on the logistical challenges of joint bids from Holland-Belgium and Spain-Portugal will also make fascinating reading.

In the 2022 race, the USA is expected to garner a decent review after addressing FIFA's concerns around the country's international legacy case highlighted by FIFA following its September inspection visit. The ambitious “World Cup of Life” initiative proposes that for every ticket sold - projected sales are a record 5 million tickets - water for life will be provided for one person.

FIFA's evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of 2022 bid rivals Australia, Qatar and Korea will provide a crucial indication of how they stack up against the USA just weeks ahead of the Dec. 2 vote.

Australia's bid has hobbled along since the bid book was submitted in May. A scandal over bid accounting, an apparent lack of traction with FIFA Ex-co members and poor international PR has done it no favours. Despite the battles, bid chairman Frank Lowy said this week he was "reasonably confident" in the country's 2022 chances.

Qatar's campaign to bring the World Cup to the Middle East for the first time was almost derailed when FIFA's Mayne-Nicholls spoke of the "logistical challenges" of staging the World Cup in such as small country.

But its innovative approach to stadia design and cooling technology to combat the desert heat in the Gulf kingdom, along with the backing from AFC president Mohamed Bin Hammam has won friends at FIFA's top table. The question is how many.

Korea's announcement of a $777 million fund as part of its bid to host the 2022 World Cup has given it momentum. And FIFA vice president Chung Mong-joon's comment this week saying he "not thinking of running" against Sepp Blatter in next summer's FIFA presidential elections could help.

But there are question marks hanging over the Korea bid. FIFA's ambition is to take its showpiece to new territories. Despite claims that a World Cup could aid reconciliation with North Korea, awarding a World Cup to Korea so soon after its co-hosting of the 2002 edition with Japan counts against the bid.

By INSIDER editor Mark Bisson

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


Get Free WFI news bulletins Click Here

 

[midfielder]

The elephant has left the room…China wont be bidding for WC 2026 paving the way for a head to head Oz vs USA showdown for the right to host WC 2022... well almost ....

http://www.sportbusiness.com/news/182453/doubts-linger-over-2026-chinese-world-cup-bid


A Chinese bid to host the FIFA World Cup is likely to be delayed by at least four to eight years beyond the mooted date of 2026, according to Mohammed Bin Hammam, president of the Asian Football Confederation.

Bin Hamman commented on the status of China’s hosting ambitions after Wei Di, President of the China Football Association, confirmed that the country will not bid to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup if any of the four other Asian countries - South Korea, Japan, Qatar and Australia - is selected as 2022 host.

ShanghaiDaily.com further reported that China may have missed the deadline to bid for the 2022 tournament due to an ongoing corruption scandal, which has now expanded to include allegations against the former manager of Shanghai's Shenhua Football Club.

In August this year Shao Wenzhong, the head of the commercial arm of China's football association, was detained by police as part of match-fixing probes.

Sina.com also reported that match-fixing suspicions have been raised over the activity of six players in the national team during a game against Oman during the 2002 World Cup qualifiers.

 

[midfielder]

SMH summary of bid at this stage...

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/football/lowys-timing-spot-on-as-fifa-scandal-sidelines-cup-opponents-20101021-16w0y.html


Lowy's timing spot on as FIFA scandal sidelines Cup opponents
Michael Cockerill
October 22, 2010

Here comes Steve Bradbury again. A year ago in an interview on Sky TV, former FFA official Bonita Mersiades drew the comparison between Australia's World Cup bid and our greatest moment on ice. Guess what? She might be right.

For the past two years Australia has, at best, been in the chasing pack in the race for the World Cup. Not a bad place to be, as it turns out. Nobody yet knows the full extent of the fallout from this week's tumultuous events in Zurich but it does seem the path is getting a little clearer.

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Assuming Australia isn't caught up in the mess - and those are the indications - then the FFA's ''Three Wise Monkeys'' approach is suddenly looking like a stroke of genius. Frank Lowy's mantra from the outset has been to stay out of trouble and hang in there. Now the odds are shortening with the finish line in sight.

At the very least, this week's provisional suspension of Nigerian executive member Amos Adamu opens the door for South African Danny Jordaan to be drafted in to replace him for the vote on December 2. Jordaan is much more likely to support Australia than Adamu ever was.

The provisional suspension of Tahiti's Reynald Temarii has less effect because Oceania's vote was always going to be Australia's, and still will be if New Zealand's Fred de Jong is required to vote. But that still means Australia is likely to be one vote better off if FIFA's sanctions stand.

Then there is the question mark over Qatar. If the mega-rich gulf state is found to have colluded with another bidding nation, then Qatar won't be hosting the World Cup in 2022. Which means Asian president Mohammad Bin Hammam, a Qatari, will then have to decide which of the other Asian nations he will support. He will find it hard to justify supporting Japan or South Korea - the only Asian nations to have hosted the tournament - ahead of Australia. Even better, Bin Hammam will more than likely bring the vote of two close confidantes, Thailand's Worawi Makudi and Egypt's Hany Abo Rida, with him.

Numbers are everything, of course but they're not the only thing. The Sunday Times sting has exposed the raw nerve of top-level corruption at FIFA, and perhaps for the first time Sepp Blatter seems to be genuinely hurting. Blatter has managed to shrug off a string of serious allegations over the years but this one comes too close to the bone. The World Cup is FIFA's cash cow, and cannot be tarnished in any way. The vote on December 2 not only has to be clean but has to be seen to be clean. Which means those countries who have played by the rules will start moving to the front of the queue.

Australia has played by the rules, as far as we know. And unless something changes, that makes it a straight fight between Australia and the US for the World Cup in 2022. The odds are 50-50 but they're good odds in context. FIFA will be richer if it gives the World Cup to the US but it will be broader if it gives it to Australia. Football in America has boomed because of the 1994 World Cup. The same will happen in Australia if we get the World Cup in 2022. FIFA has generally paid lip service to its motto ''For the Good of the Game''.

Maybe, after this week, it might have to examine its conscience. Which means Lowy's timing could be just about right.

Ads by Google

 

[midfielder]

FFA & PM to Lobby FIFA.

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/football/ffa-in-lobby-assault-as-fifa-scandals-muddy-waters-20101022-16xup.html

FFA in lobby assault as FIFA scandals muddy waters
Dan Silkstone
October 23, 2010

ZURICH will be the eye of a raging storm next week and Australia will be right in the middle of it as world football's heavyweights descend on FIFA for five days of frenzied meetings and lobbying.

An Australian delegation, including 2022 World Cup bid chief Ben Buckley, FFA chairman Frank Lowy and bid team member Stuart Taggart, will arrive to a city in uproar after two of FIFA's executive committee members were suspended following their ensnarement in a British newspaper cash for votes sting. Just a day later, two bidding nations, Qatar and Spain/Portugal, were placed under formal investigation amid claims of illegal vote swapping.

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FIFA has launched inquiries into both scandals, and its 24-member executive committee will meet without the two suspended members - Nigeria's Amos Adamu and Oceania representative Reynald Temarii - next week, among a host of other meetings.

Buckley will present Australia's case on Wednesday at the International Football Arena conference, dubbed the meeting place for ''football's global players''. In this forum, most of the bidding nations will make a penultimate pitch to the football world's movers and shakers. Australian officials will also spruik their case, alongside their rivals, to the world's media at an open day for reporters.

Lowy will also meet FIFA president Sepp Blatter and other top officials during the week, although the FFA would not confirm that yesterday.

Lowy and others bidding for the tournament hosting rights will be keen for information about the outcome of FIFA's twin investigations, which could seriously affect Australia's bid.

If Temarii is not reinstated or replaced, Australia will lose his vote - one of few considered a certainty for the Australian bid. If Qatar and Spain/Portugal are turfed out of the bidding process - as some have predicted - by a FIFA desperate to clean up a process that has come to be seen as hopelessly corrupted, one of Australia's main rivals for 2022 would be gone.

In that event, the tournament would most likely be awarded to the United States or Australia.

Following the IFA conference FIFA's executive committee will meet on Thursday and Friday to discuss the scandal-hit bidding process for awarding the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, before the final vote in Zurich on December 2.

Buckley and Lowy will be back in town a month later for the final lobbying push and will be joined by the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, as they make a last pitch to FIFA's heavyweights before hosting rights for the two tournaments are awarded.

 

[midfielder]

Very good article about how many in other codes feel about international competitions like the NRL four nation & the AFL Irish thing... well written and shows how in many ways football is a truly international game.

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/football/world-cup-fails-to-runneth-over-20101022-16xuo.html

World Cup fails to runneth over
Richard Hinds
October 23, 2010

Illustration: Edd Aragon
THIS should be an exciting time for Australian soccer. Assuming Australia's bid for the 2022 World Cup has not been tainted by the dubious practices that have blurred the line between legitimate lobbying and outright bribery - and there is no reason to believe it has - then the game's vocal supporters should be eagerly anticipating the December announcement.

If the resistance of opposing codes to the bid was irritating, it revealed how threatened they feel; how profoundly they believe an Australian World Cup would affect not merely one distant season, but also their long-term sponsorships, crowds and junior participation.

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Yet, with the single most important utterance in Australian soccer history less than six weeks away - ''And the winner is …'' - the mood within the game seems decidedly downbeat and the prospect of soccer riding the long-promised wave feels somehow more remote than only a few years ago.

This is not because Australia's chances of beating a strong US bid have diminished. According to some estimates, the shadowy practices of opposing bids might even play into Australia's hands. Nor is it exclusively the result of the hangover from a generally disappointing, sometimes acrimonious World Cup campaign this year; one that brought an unsatisfactory end to a golden age for the Socceroos.

The pessimism around Australian soccer stems from the impatience with the stunted growth of the A-League, which, since the premature start to the season, has left some members of the socceratti looking like patients in a proctologist's waiting room. Poor crowds, clubs fighting for survival, divided opinions about the game's leadership - all the source of disillusionment at a time when the standard of the games themselves has been decent.

The calm voices counsel patience. Wait until the World Cup vote and find out if the game will receive a stimulus that money cannot buy (unless you consider the money spent on expensive trinkets for FIFA officials, overseas academies and the other government-funded largesse necessary to run a competitive bid).

The worldly wise have drawn relevant comparisons with fledgling leagues in other developing markets. The now prosperous J-League and the burgeoning Major League Soccer in the US experienced similar growing pains, and relied heavily on the perseverance of benevolent owners and other generous devotees.

However, as many wait for the A-League to grow at the same significant rate as interest in the game itself, one essential truth has not been fully embraced - fans of major football codes do not support ''the game'' or, even country, first. Their greatest devotion lies with their club.

In that regard, the representative games being played by the Kangaroos and the AFL's bizarre compromised rules team in Ireland are instructive. There will be earnest interest in the Four Nations series because this is a genuine international competition contested by (injuries aside) the game's best exponents. Yet, it will not grip the public like the NRL season.

Meanwhile, a few AFL types - particularly those officials with a tee-time at a nice Irish golf course - will get excited about the strangely unsatisfying hybrid games in Ireland. But, for the vast majority of AFL fans, the most pleasing result will be a clean injury sheet and the safe return of their club's stars.

Conversely, Australian soccer expects this ''club before country'' maxim to be reversed. It is commonly held that interest in the Socceroos will automatically lead fans to form an affinity with their local A-League club. Or, at the other end, vast grassroots participation will lead to a generation of ticket-buying A-League fans.

At the same time, some hysterical commentators who have declared personal fatwahs on the AFL and NRL exhort fans to flock to the A-League in order to show their support for the sport. That represents a gross misunderstanding of the mentality of fans who turn up to cheer teams to which they have made an emotional commitment, not to make political statements.

Inevitably, it takes new clubs - and a six-year-old league is still very new - time to develop an organic relationship with fans. Some, such as the Melbourne Victory, have done that much quicker than others. The Newcastle Jets' match against David Beckham FC is a worthwhile venture because it focuses interest on a local club.

A-League clubs still also suffer some mainstream media resistance and, given the camouflaged start to the season, some disastrous scheduling. In Sydney FC's case, that has been compounded by disastrous results.

Still, in the battle for hearts and minds - not merely the soccer-friendly daytrippers - the league will not fully prosper until clubs work hard to ensure the devotion of fans to their cause is even greater than for the game itself.

 

[bjw]

2nd of December is D-Day yeah?

 

[Matt--Simon]

Indeed it is and we are down to 4 bids for the 2022 with Russia pulling out to focus on the 2018 bid. uSA, Japan/Korea, Qatar and us. I think we are looking good to host this as two of the bidding countries have recently held WC finals and i dont think Qatar would be able to host such an event and that leaves one.

BRING ON THE WORLD CUP!!!!!

 

[Forum Phoenix]

Qatar is now being investigated for purportedly doing a vote swap deal with Spain/Portugal 2018 bid.

WIth the US having already had the cup inside the last twenty years - hard to feel we are not the perfect choice for the 2022 cup.