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AF

I think Mister Football’s concerns are valid, I independently shared them when I first heard the details of the bid. So clearly also did the AFL as Gerard Whateley (highly respected both Australian Football and Soccer commentator) reported in a key article everyone should read: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/12/14/2770679.htm?site=sport&section=football

The NRL also have a lot of concerns: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/soccers-plan-to-displace-nrl/story-e6frexnr-1225808419104 and http://www.cowboys.com.au/default.aspx?s=newsdisplay&id=21608

Jimbo – can you explain what “recent discussions” mean the WC can be staged in Australia without any Melbourne stadia? The bid is scrounging for stadia as it is, which is why the FFA turned around and said they wanted Etihad stadium when they’d previously said they could get by without (hoping to use the Swan St Stadium instead).

That turn around by the FFA with poor negotiating (sounds like they really left the AFL in the dark over Etihad) was the spark for all the ruckus.

Hopefully the Federal Govt with control over the bid will sort all out. The problem is the sorting out is going to cost big-time. When those costs finally become public – the bid will definitely be the biggest story of the year.

I love it when people think they know what “most australians” know (or don’t). You don’t give people much credit GenQ. I’d disagree and say that I think most casual sports fans know that we are now part of the AFC hence our qualification route.

you’re right to find motorsports as interesting as a wet weekend spent in Scarborough.

However, your criticism of football and cycling is a little peculiar: these two sports are as sweet as a nut.

May I ask which sports you do watch ? I guess you’re a fan of one of the versions of egg-chasing.

None of them is as good as football or cycling, surely ?!?!?!

“a los osados ayuda la fortuna”

“you may not dress up as Englishmen and head straight for the shower…”

It was meant to be a reference to Psycho. I was suggesting that the convicts have a Norman Bates-like relationship with their mothers.

My apologies…..

if you get to the second round, young man, you will be facing your Freudian nemesis i.e. the English.

It would be fun to watch. The Australian attitude to the mother country seems to be similar to that of Norman Bates: very complex. You may not dress us up as Englishmen and head straight for the shower, but you get my point.

It is my ( uninformed ) view that the convicts’ group is a lot tougher this time around. I ain’t convinced that the Serbs or Ghana will be wiped out by Tim Cahill et al.

Still………………bonne chance. It will be fun to hear that song about “the vegemite sandwich”.

Senor queso

The FFA can run a WC in AUstralia without using any Melbourne AFL parks.

For football, the glass is half full.

You know the answers to your questions already and all will be revealed in due time and the best thing to emerge out of recent discussions is that the WC can be held in Australia without playing any games in Melbourne – Sydney will get the opening ceremony and the final and possibly one of the semis.
Great news.

and i agree with james, 2010 is going to be the biggest year for australian football, except maybe 2018 or 2022, if we get either of those. But 2010 is definately going to be a defining year in australian football.

my guess about the world cup bids for 2018 and 2022 are england for ’18 and australia for ’22. Hope australia gets at least one of those…

whatever happens, if we get a world cup or not, we will look back on 2010 and think,” gee, that year was huge”

Also very interested to see how the Heart to supporter wise. Lucky they got the WC before they come in.

I see that as a good year to aim to host the world cup.

By then, the FFA might actually control half a dozen decent stadiums because they have managed to do so through their own operations.

Also looking forward to F1 with the Schu back, NBA playoffs will be huge, Vancouver Olympics will be cool (although I’m not paying extra for it, Foxtel!) and seeing whether England show up for the Comm Games and give us a run for our money.

For all the ffa’s faults, they did revolutionise a sport in this country in a very short period of time. They got us into asia, created the a-league, did the groundwork that got us to and be successfull at the world cup etc… They really are terrible.

My view is that the FFA has not earned the right to try and host a World Cup, basically relying on other codes to do it for them.

Re world cup – general opinion is that it’ll be tough. Stating the obvious I know, but can’t sense much genuine positism. Seems like most who back us to get out of the group are trying to convince themselves. Which is what I’ll attempt to do now:

We’ve got similar team to last time, 4 more years playing together under dutch regime. If we get a result against germany then a bonus. Ghana is a must-win game. Beat them last outing (friendly and we got totally outplayed by them). By serbia game then a draw should do it. That’s the way we did it last time against Croatia after all. Last time only slightly easier group so not scarred of anyone. And big incentive is that if we get to the second round we’ll probably be facing algeria, slovakia or usa so quarters are foreseeable.

For the life of me, I don’t know why you need everything explained to you right now. There are a lot of unanswered questions even now about south africa and there’s a lot of concerns for a football nation like brazil. It’s indulgent to speculate, but I’d say we’d have less question marks from fifa’s viewpoint. With all your questions, I’d say that a modicrum of trust should be put in the government/s, and the administrators of all codes to come up with the best solutions in due course. We’ve got the track record of pulling off successfull sporting events and we’ve got the resources to put on a good world cup, despite the current concerns. Don’t confuse the current bid information with long-term ability.

Do you think that should you personally not hold the bid to account then everything will go to pot? And at the end of the day isn’t that what this all comes down to – what we personally want to happen. I’m interested in what you mf want to happen.

I’d be honest and say that if the nrl stopped for 8 weeks in the middle of their season I’d care. I’d also care if rugby league suffered damage (financial or otherwise) due to the world cup. Both these events are foreseeable. But I wouldn’t care anywhere near enough not to want the world cup here.

“Then in December, the big announcement – will Australia be awarded either the 2018 or 2022 World Cup? How will the bidding process have progressed up until that point and what factors will win or lose us the right to stage the tournament?”

And to this queston… Yes indeed we can win the WC bid for 2018

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AF