Having five bidders from the same confederation is likely to harm Australia’s chances of hosting one of the 2018 or 2022 World Cups. But why has the AFC not knocked bids from Japan, South Korea and Indonesia on the head?
Japan and South Korea co-hosted the world’s biggest single-sport event in 2002. Surely FIFA will not award them hosting rights for a second time within such a short, in relative terms, time frame?
It took the Germans 32 years to bring the tournament back to Deutschland after West Germany hosted the 1974 finals, while fellow football powerhouse Italy waited more than half a century between the second World Cup in 1934 and Italia ‘90.
And France waited 60 years to regain hosting rights after entertaining the world in 1938.
Why on earth would FIFA send the big show back to Japan or South Korea within 16 or 20 years?
As for Indonesia, they were a part of the shambolic 2007 Asian Cup where four south-east Asian countries did their best to stuff up the AFC’s premier tournament.
If they can’t host a smaller tournament with the help of three other nations, how can they expect to host the World Cup on their own?
As for the other mob, I understand the pulling power of Qatar in Asia, but they should fall by the wayside in time as well.
A small population (1.3 million), stadiums needing severe upgrading, and the 40 degree summer heat should prove an insurmountable challenge for the Qataris.
The AFC should throw its weight behind Australia’s bid.
Or to create some goodwill and add a (tiny) bit of weight to the bid, they should submit a joint bid with the OFC with the World Cup to be held in Australia and New Zealand.
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March 10th 2009 @ 12:02pm
danny said | March 10th 2009 @ 12:02pm | Report comment
hopefully, as the bidding progresses, australia’s will be viewed as the most viable from the region and will get the afc’s support. but there’s no way the afc could, at this stage, choose to back any one of the bids.
south korea and japan: if not for their previously having hosted, they’d be far and away a better chance than australia. their infrastructure (transport etc, not just stadia) is significantly better than ours, and their countries are much more suitable in a geographic sense. either of them could host the world cup tomorrow if needed. plus, they have much better footballing pedigree than australia realistically.
indonesia is a football-mad country with the fourth-largest population in the world. a huge market for fifa to try to tap. and, if i recall, they were the only host nation of the asian cup to come out with any credibility. their team performed admirably, and their crowds were decent. if anything, the fact that they were co-hosts with three other nations dragged their own hostng performance down.
qatar, as far as asian nations go, is reasonably placed in terms of time zones for both the wealthy european market, and the massive asian one. they also have the funds to build 10 brand new stadiums. but i’ll concede, neither qatar nor indonesia are realistic bids at this stage for varying reasons.
finally, a joint bid with new zealand is not an option. end of story.
i honestly believe australia is well-placed to win the bidding for 2022. but there are plenty of reasons why the bid may fall apart (both local, eg infrastructure investment, and foreign, such as distance and political issues). it would be stupid for the afc to single out one bid at this early point. let’s wait until the business end of the bidding and see what happens.
March 10th 2009 @ 12:46pm
Ryan Steele said | March 10th 2009 @ 12:46pm | Report comment
The simplest answer would be to force the competing countries to provide better footballing environments (upgrading and building stadiums, developing their league systems, et cetera).
Mohammad Bin Hammam gave his and the AFC’s blessing and full support to Australia’s bid, back in early October. Considering his comments at the time, I doubt the stance has changed.
Qatar is very much in its infancy as a footballing nation, and this bid would be merely used to give them a push in the right direction. Even Bin Hammam has said Qatar is far too young to really be considered a successful bid.
Japan’s bid is a strong one, but – being so soon after their 2002 stint – can really only be considered a directive to the nation to continue their development, as things have slowed down substantially since their time as co-host.
Thailand is sitting in a world of the unknown. Their support for football is huge, as we’ve seen from the times they’ve hosted any national game. Their stadiums are also large, but don’t provide the quality that FIFA would be the likely necessity from the successful bid. Their external facilities may not quite reach the requirements needed, either.
Having stated all this, they are still contenders, as are all other countries who have placed bids. It gives both the FFA and Australia as a country further incentive to push their bid, and work as hard as possible towards their goals.
There’s nothing better than healthy competition. Nobody can deny that.
March 12th 2009 @ 12:34pm
Towser said | March 12th 2009 @ 12:34pm | Report comment
Forget Asian bigwigs we cant go wrong with the “No worries? bid.
http://www.theage.com.au/news/sport/soccer/the-no-worries-world-cup/2009/03/11/1236447306023.html