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The cross-code wrangle over stadia for the FIFA World Cup has put the boot into Australia’s joint 2018-2022 bid.
That is according to a leading football industry website – World Football Insider – which has produced a damning assessment of Football Federation Australia’s recent handling of the bid.
After rating Australia as the second favourites behind England for hosting rights in February, WFI’s latest World Cup survey ranked it seventh due to recent stadia dramas.
“Australia loses marks after a difficult few months during which the bid team has struggled to win domestic support and sort out its stadia plans, raising serious concerns about the country’s ability to deliver a World Cup,” said WFI Editor Mark Bisson.
WFI’s World Cup bid index is designed to show the merits and drawbacks of the bidding nations at regular intervals before FIFA’s decision in December.
Across analysis of 10 categories, England scored 65 out of 100 points, ahead of Australia’s prime 2022 rival Qatar (63), Russia and the United States 61.
Australia (58) was five points behind fellow Asian contender Qatar and ranked down alongside the likes of Holland-Belgium, Korea, Spain-Portugal and Japan.
While the FFA scurried to lock in a venue plan before this month’s bid book handover in Switzerland, Bisson labelled it a “shambolic” period for the Australian bid team.
The AFL’s decision to safeguard its competition by putting 54,000-seat Etihad Stadium off limits has left Australia’s bid with just two ovals – the MCG and Geelong’s Skilled Stadium – in Victoria.
Melbourne’s new state-of-the-art rectangular stadium AAMI Park’s 31,000-seat capacity is too small for World Cup venues which must cater for a minimum 40,000 fans.
Ongoing budgeting problems over the development of the Adelaide Oval and the need to build three new venues in a $2.8 billion stadium development program has also highlighted concerns.
“Bid chiefs Frank Lowy and Ben Buckley have struggled to win the support of the AFL and other sporting codes,” said Bisson.
“The fact that stadiums were only sorted a few days before the (May 14) 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 hemorrhaged 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.”
The WFI report said Australia would have received more backing from fellow Asian nations if it followed Japan’s lead by dropping out of the 2018 contest to focus on the 2022 tournament.
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