World Cup bid makes us truly global citizens

 
Mike Tuckerman Columnist

By , 29 Dec 2009 Mike Tuckerman is a Roar Expert

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The Australian Socceroos' Mark Viduka kicks the ball in the Australia v Japan opening Group F match at the Soccer World Cup in Kaiserslautern, Germany, Monday, June 12, 2006. This is Australia's first World Cup finals appearance in 32 years. AAP Image/Dave Hunt

The Australian Socceroos' Mark Viduka kicks the ball in the Australia v Japan opening Group F match at the Soccer World Cup in Kaiserslautern, Germany, Monday, June 12, 2006. This is Australia's first World Cup finals appearance in 32 years. AAP Image/Dave Hunt

When I was in high school, I dreamed of travelling the globe. I mostly blame Les Murray for this, because his ‘World Soccer’ show became compulsory viewing of a Saturday afternoon.

Every weekend after watching the show, I’d dream of the days when I too could stand on the terraces of world football’s most famous stadia, watching the best players on the planet strut their stuff in front of packed houses.

The reality is that when I was old enough to set out for Europe, I spent most of my time watching dreadful German third division games at Fortuna Köln’s crumbling Südstadion.

Nevertheless, I always appreciated that football offered me a more worldly view than the staid suburban environment I grew up in.

So it was with a sense of excitement that I greeted the news that Australia was to bid to host the World Cup finals, although my joy was apparently not shared by those who call the NRL and AFL their sport of choice.

They argue that the cost of halting the domestic NRL and AFL seasons is too great to bother mounting a serious bid to host the World Cup, but as someone whose love of the round ball game has resulted in numerous trips abroad, I can’t help but feel that such complaints are a tad myopic.

In a country that craves international recognition, turning down the world’s biggest sporting event because it temporarily impacts on local affairs is like denying Rafael Nadal a shot at the Australian Open because hard courts don’t suit his natural game.

That is to say, not a particularly smart idea.

For a nation that has a reputation for being open-minded and cosmopolitan, it seems absurd to sabotage the chance to host the world’s most important sporting event because it impacts on local affairs.

I was at the 2006 World Cup in Germany, and I can safely say that the tournament supersedes anything this country has ever seen.

And as someone who not only hails from the rugby league heartland that is western Sydney, but who has also watched the odd game of AFL in Melbourne, that’s a statement I feel qualified to make.

The football World Cup should be right up our alley, so it’s a shame that so many cloak their views in quasi-nationalist rhetoric to claim that football is a foreign sport and that parochial interests must be protected.

They are entitled to their opinions – but so are the thousands of fans whose passion for the round ball game is not intended as a snub to domestic sports, and who support football simply because of a love for the game.

These fans might occasionally be drowned out by the din of newspaper columnists looking to protect their own self-interests, but undoubtedly they exist.

I can understand that NRL and AFL fans don’t wish to see their respective seasons interrupted by a World Cup.

But since the essence of ground-sharing means exactly that – to share – perhaps these fans can take a temporary back seat to a tournament that makes the Olympics look like a village get-together.

We’re talking about a potential $5.3 billion economic windfall – according to the boffins who come up with these figures – not to mention the hundreds of millions who tune into the tournament on TV sets across the globe.

And in a rapidly globalised world, hosting a World Cup would make us truly global citizens.

Whether that’s something the average Australian wants is another topic for debate.

But if the ethos of being Australian is to “get in and have a go,” I’d like to see the Australian government mount an open and honest bid to host the World Cup finals – regardless of whether that puts a few noses out of joint amongst the status quo.

I’m sure that NRL and AFL fans will disagree, but I don’t think I’m alone in that desire.

Follow Mike on twitter @Mike_Tuckerman
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