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Australia made naive mistakes in its failed bid to host the 2022 World Cup bid, Football Federation Australia chairman Frank Lowy says.
In the wake of Sepp Blatter’s sudden resignation as FIFA chairman, Lowy has opened up his hurt at Australia’s failed bid.
Australia spent $46 million on a bid which gained just one vote in a process unexpectedly won by Qatar.
“On a personal level since … Australia received just one vote in its World Cup bid, I have nursed a bitter grievance,” Lowy said in an open letter released on Wednesday.
“We ran a clean bid. I know that others did not, and I have shared what I know with the authorities, including Michael Garcia who undertook a two-year investigation into the 2022 World Cup bid.
“But did we make mistakes? Yes.
“Were we naive? In some cases, yes.
“Would we do things differently in future? Absolutely.”
The 2022 bid process is under fresh investigation by Swiss authorities, amid the separate arrests of 14 people connected to FIFA on corruption charges.
One of the arrested men, Jack Warner, is alleged to have stolen $500,000 from Australia’s bid.
Lowy said Warner, the president of CONCACAF and a FIFA executive committee member since 1983, had a “reputation as a colourful character”.
But the chief of the north and central American football association was considered “hugely influential” to the World Cup vote, Lowy said.
CONCACAF asked for a $4 million donation towards a centre of excellence in Warner’s Trinidad and Tobago, but the FFA and Australian bid team offered $500,000.
Lowy said the Australian money was paid to CONCACAF but it was ultimately found that Warner “had committed fraud and misappropriated the funds – in other words he had stolen the money from CONCACAF”.
“We asked CONCACAF to give our money back because it wasn’t used for the purpose we intended, and were advised by FIFA to wait until the inquiries were complete. Those inquiries are still ongoing,” Lowy said.
He described Blatter’s resignation was a watershed moment, but one that won’t alone reform soccer.
“Sepp Blatter’s resignation should open the door to major reform,” Lowy said.
“I say should because FIFA’s problems are deep-rooted and tangled in a culture that has developed over decades.
“It will take a united, concerted effort by its football associations to fix the mess.”
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