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AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou (R) addresses the media. Slattery Images
The news that the AFL, the NRL, Australian Rugby Union (ARU), the Football Federation Australia (FFA) and the Federal Government have signed off on a memorandum of understanding in regard to a prospective Australian World Cup hopefully represents a turning point for the bid and a new sense of unity behind it.
While the finer details of the agreement were not made public, the most crucial aspect is that the AFL, NRL and Super 15 seasons will continue and relocate away from the stadiums that will be needed for the World Cup – the MCG, Skilled Stadium, Subiaco Oval, Gold Coast Stadium and Adelaide Oval – and the bid will comply with FIFA’s strict requirements.
The agreement will obviously involve some type of compensation to the codes for having to relocate during the tournament, and it seems, according to the statement, that all the issues involved in Australia’s hosting of a World Cup in relation to other codes have been addressed and consensus reached.
According to AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou, “All matters are now resolved and we, like all Australians, will continue to throw our support behind Australia’s bid for the soccer World Cup.”
With the World Cup bid book on its way to Switzerland to be digested by FIFA, the agreement back in Australia will come as a welcome relief to fans that watched as the bid was being derailed and hijacked by the ongoing discussions and public squabbles involving stadium availability.
Let’s hope this is the last we hear of such squabbles and that this agreement represents a turning point for the bid.
On Friday I wrote that our World Cup bid had suffered in silence as these codes set the agenda in the press by focusing more on what Australia would lose by staging the tournament rather than what we would gain.
On the back of this news, it’s time for the FFA to ramp up the volume of our bid and generate some momentum and excitement around it by telling Australia what a World Cup on our shores would mean; how it will be a tournament for all Australians and not just football fans; and why it shouldn’t be feared by non-football fans.
If the spirit of the agreement is maintained and respected, then the FFA shouldn’t expect the rival codes to hijack their case.
On the other side of the fence, it would help football’s cause if some of its fans and pundits now toned down their anti-domestic code tirades, particularly if these codes do respect the agreement.
Such tirades only fueled the “code war” schism that overshadowed the bid.
If these governing bodies can come to an agreement with all the complexities of the stadium negotiations and compensations, then surely fans can do likewise and all back the bid.
The World Cup is for all Australians, and it’s now time for the focus to switch to what it would bring to Australia and working towards making it happen.
It’s time for the next stage of our World Cup bid, with a united Australia behind it.