News came out recently that the FFA and the federal government were set to withdraw their FIFA Football World Cup bid for 2018 and 2022 because they were not able to meet “outrageous demands” put on them by Andrew Demetriou and the AFL commissioners.
No one has yet elaborated on what these demands were, but it was only after the AFL relented somewhat in their hard line approach, faced with the prospect of serious public embarrassment at being the cause of not being able to hold a World Cup in Australia
Maybe the FFA should have withdrawn their bids, after all.
It’s obvious that the whole thing hasn’t gone as smoothly as everyone at the FFA would have hoped. The bid itself is a long drawn-out complicated process and must be run like clockwork to succeed.
It also requires the cooperation and agreement with all major players. The main players in this case are the other major football codes in the NRL and rugby league, ARU and the rugby union, and of course, the AFL and Australian Rules.
The hastily contrived bid and the demands from other codes that they not interrupt their season has weakened the bid and lowered Australia’s reputation as a sporting nation worthy to hold a World Cup in its home country.
It’s obvious now that Australia will not win either bid.
This is not entirely the other codes’ fault, either. The FFA and football management in this country in general must also take part of the blame.
Besides, in the end, who was going to benefit most from the World Cup in Australia – football and the FFA? Unlikely.
Ironically, if we are to win one of the bids, the biggest beneficiary out of a football World Cup will be the AFL. The AFL is set to receive hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation for having to move fixtures for a few weeks.
This is despite the fact that the AFL only generates about 200 million in receipts for the entire season.
The Geelong AFL Club will also get a revamped and upgraded home ground to over forty thousand capacity, free of charge.
Adelaide Oval and Perth will also get significantly upgraded facilities that in the main will only be used by AFL teams after the World Cup.
The FFA’s management and the federal sports minister have been weak in their dealings with the other codes and given in too easily to ensure the bid was completed on time. No doubt they were held to ransom by some strong personalities in the opposing camps.
In the end, the whole thing was not done properly, without proper consultation, and any spirit of co-operation, and should have been scrapped.
Michael C
Roar Guru
Okay old salt,....(AF),..... K.Rudd is a late scratching from the field, now - - if an election were held tomorrow, who would be your preferred prime minister? T.Abbott J.Gillard D.Gallop B.Buckley A.Demetriou who would you rather going into battle for the rights of little old Australia in a big bad mean world??
Simon the Pom
Guest
Mate, this article is so full of diatribe against the AFL that it's not funny. How Foster can be considered as an unbiased sports reporter on SBS news I'll never know. This guy needs to have a reality check and understand that the FFA stuffed this bid up, not the AFL. They failed to organise stadium use and then came begging cap in hand to the other codes at the 11th hour. Association Football won't be the major beneficiary after the cup as a result. He's looking for someone to blame for this perceived slight on his beloved game and he's decided to put the boot into Australian Football. Imagine this. In a parallel universe the 2022 Rugby League World Cup is to be held in England during the EPL season. How do you think the FA would treat another code wanting them to give up use of their stadiums during the event? Going back to Fos... Funny how the coward wrote this piece in a Sydney newspaper. I wonder if he waited for the Folau move before it went to print?
Michael C
Roar Guru
I can't help but be somewhat mischevious and suggest how astounding it is that MIchael Lynch (Fairfax) has produced this article Asian blow to 2018 Australian bid without one single reference to the AFL!!!! Good work Lynchie!!! perhaps it just slipped his mind?? ;-)
Michael C
Roar Guru
ICF - there's still zero correlation between your thoughts on the AFL, Folau and Hunt and any discussion around Australia hosting a FIFA WC (with or without Victoria). No idea why you're trying to deflect. The question of how the mess got arrived at seems very much related to the capacity for negotiations to have been undertaken successfully.
JVGO
Guest
Yes, Good morning MC it must be Monday morning again. Great to see you only spruik for the AFL during office hours, your employer must pay you well. Is redb in at work yet? Say hello to Andrew D for me, did he have a good weekend?
bilbo
Guest
Foster makes P Rothfield looked fair and balanced.....I appreciate his passion, but come on! It was when he started drawing links between Soccer's 'beautiful game' and that the soccer players didnt commit off field indiscretions....ever heard of Barton, Maradonna, Terry...or pretty much any EPL player!
ItsCalledFootball
Roar Guru
Obviously being one who doesn't appreciate football or Johnny Warren, you don't understand how disrespectful your comments are.
ItsCalledFootball
Roar Guru
Foster's not mad, he's a great champion for his beloved sport and maybe one day he'll be remembered for it. He just needs to communicate things a little differently so everyone can see his point of view more clearly without being attacked.
ItsCalledFootball
Roar Guru
Its a sign of how desperate Aussie Rules has become in Sydney and Brisbane - they have to buy rugby league players to get anyone up here to watch the game. They had no hope of that selling the game on its virtues alone - noone was interested in the game.
ItsCalledFootball
Roar Guru
There's a lot of Aussie Rules people walking around with tin foil hats at the moment buying rugby league players to ward off financial ruin in Sydney and expecting AFL to take over Australia with a couple of marketing gimmicks.
ItsCalledFootball
Roar Guru
Phil Lau doesn't play for GWS for another 2 years - why did they announce it this week? Nothing the AFL marketing department does is a coincidence in timing.
ItsCalledFootball
Roar Guru
If the AFL didn't create such a fuss our bid would have been that much better and football would have benefitted a lot more so its not entirely the FFA's fault either.
apaway
Guest
Gee, Foster knows how to stir the pot. Don't let Beast read this - he'll self-combust!
Roger
Guest
Beaver Fever.... did you even read my post? What did you not understand? Of course it's not realistic to leave out Victoria from the bid, but that IS essentially what has happened. Two venues for Australia's sporting capital? Oh and by the way, in case you were wondering, I am Victorian.
Michael C
Guest
btw - after seeing the recent Michael Lynch article in Fairfax and now the Craig Foster one.......it's becoming a nice little FFA propaganda rag ain't it!!! It's funny - - News Ltd isn't running this "All AFL's fault if it fails",......only Fairfax.
ren
Guest
why is this comment poor?
ren
Guest
my heart rat will be nice and cal, hovering around the 42 mark whilst i sleep peacefully through the night
apaway
Guest
Thank you, Michael, I've read the articles and appreciate you posting them. I am certainly willing to stand corrected on the severity of Andrew Demetriou's initial stance against the World Cup bid, if not the ultimate intent. I would however, be intrigued to know what the "outrageous demands" were that he allegedly made. And yes, the only body that can tell us that is the FFA.
Michael C
Guest
ICF - The point being that sports can coexist and you can still run a successful international tournament and don’t need to try and kill each other off like the FFA was demanding until thwarted by the AFL and NRL.
Michael C
Guest
I'm disappointed no one has picked up on the "Lowy's Lane" line with respect to Superman...... ....wasted,....... :-(