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The AFL and NRL will have to take mid-season breaks of up to eight weeks should Australia host the football World Cup in 2018 or 2022.
Football chiefs are in advanced discussions with the AFL, NRL and rugby union about having first use of the nation’s best multi-purpose stadia leading up to and during any Australian-hosted World Cup.
The rival codes would have to agree to at least a four-week mid-season shutdown while the tournament is underway in June and July, because of FIFA regulations locking out other major sports in each host city.
And FIFA also demands a four-week lead-in period at each host venue prior to the World Cup.
That means AFL and NRL matches during that period could not be played at stadia being used for the tournament.
Football Federation Australia chief executive Ben Buckley admitted his sport would have to convince the AFL and NRL to rejig their seasons in some way during an Australian World Cup.
But he believed the outlook was positive for cross-code co-operation, especially with the carrot of improved stadia as part of any World Cup hosting.
“We’ve met with all the sporting codes and they’re all in broad agreement about the importance of the FIFA World Cup for Australia and the legacy it would deliver in terms of sporting infrastructure,” Buckley said on Thursday.
“There’s a precedent in relation to the Sydney Olympics and the Rugby World Cup.”
Soccer would need to get all other codes on-side quickly and publicly, with visible disharmony usually spelling death for World Cup bids.
But the upside for the AFL, NRL and rugby union is the prospect of taxpayer-funded redevelopment for their existing stadia, or brand new ones which would be used for their sports post-World Cup.
With at least 12 stadia needed, the MCG, ANZ Stadium, Etihad Stadium, Sydney Football Stadium and Suncorp Stadium predictably head the list of World Cup venues.
Redevelopments of Newcastle’s EnergyAustralia Stadium, Dairy Farmers Stadium in Townsville, Carrara on the Gold Coast, Canberra Stadium and a western Sydney venue to the FIFA-required 40,000-capacity are also part of the plan.
The two uncertainties are Adelaide and Perth.
The FFA is keen on a redeveloped 55,000-seat Adelaide Oval.
But the road block is tension between the venue’s tenants, the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) and the South Australian Cricket Association (SACA).
And there is divided opinion over redeveloping Perth’s Subiaco Oval, or building a new stadium in the city to host World Cup matches.
The FFA has just over a week to present its final costings to the federal government, while it must lodge stadium and infrastructure plans for the World Cup bid by May next year.
FIFA will decide the 2018 and 2022 World Cup hosts in December next year.
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