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Football Federation Australia is damned if they do and damned if they don’t. It makes sense for the Socceroos to play Japan in Melbourne, but should the game be at Docklands?
When word got out that FFA might take October’s vital World Cup qualifier against Japan to Victoria – despite recently signing a deal with Destination NSW to play five major Socceroos games in Sydney over the next five years – it was widely assumed the Melbourne Cricket Ground would once again host the national team.
After all, the last time the two fierce rivals met in a World Cup qualifier in Melbourne, nearly 75,000 fans turned out at the MCG in June 2009 to see a Tim Cahill brace fire Australia to a 2-1 win.
So when the rumour began that the Socceroos would return to Melbourne, logic suggested the game would take place at the MCG in an attempt to draw a massive crowd through the turnstiles.
Cue surprise when it was instead announced that the game would be played at Etihad Stadium – known for international fixtures as Docklands – a venue where the surface played better than perhaps expected during the recent friendly against Greece.
As one of the most technically proficient sides in world football, Japan will be desperate to play on a pristine surface come October.
Yet it’s not the playing surface that will have convinced FFA to stage the game at Docklands.
“I’d like to thank the Victorian Government and Docklands Stadium for their support of the match and we look forward to seeing Docklands Stadium packed with fans and an atmosphere only football can provide with thousands of Japanese fans expected to be among the sea of green and gold,” FFA chairman David Gallop said in a wordy statement when the venue was announced.
As if to underscore the point, the Acting Minister for Tourism and Major Events in Victoria, Philip Dalidakis, also chimed in.
“We’re thrilled Victoria has been chosen to host what could be the biggest blockbuster of the qualification stage,” Dalidakis said. “Our world-class events attract visitors from all over the world, and that’s a big boost to the local economy.”
The word ‘tourism’ is one Australian supporters should take note of.
No longer do the Socceroos represent us solely in football on the world stage – increasingly they’re being used to generate revenue from domestic and international tourism.
That would explain why FFA has essentially been flogging off Socceroos games to the highest bidder, and why cities like Brisbane are starting to miss out on key international fixtures as a result of Tourism and Events Queensland failing to come to the party.
What it doesn’t explain is why ticket prices remain relatively high.
With adult tickets ranging from $49 for the cheapest seat up to $119 for the most expensive – ‘active area’ tickets are $55 for both sets of fans – watching a World Cup qualifier in Australia isn’t cheap.
You could argue that the fixture represents the cream of the Asian crop, but it seems a tad unfair on fans to expect them to reach deep into their pockets when there are already lucrative commercial agreements in place.
It also seems unfair on Destination NSW, who are supposedly miffed the key qualifying fixture has gone to Melbourne so soon after they signed a deal with FFA.
Head office cops plenty of stick from media and supporters – much of it deserved – but in this instance perhaps they deserve the benefit of the doubt.
It’s not really FFA’s problem if a tourism body fails to get their guarantees in writing – it’s simply business.
And much like the deal that will invariably see Australia’s biggest star Cahill sign for Melbourne City as a guest player this season, FFA has shown that when it comes to making the big calls, they’re not afraid to do the unexpected.