Skippy is not to blame for our World Cup demise

Well some world leaders haven't been able to tell them apart.

"That presentation on Australia was watched by over a billion people and it went for half an hour or more. How much would it cost to pay for a 30 minute ad on Australia for an audience of 1 billion?" The 'Ad' was a tad embarrasing and very much a backward stereotyped view of Australia. Its impact then?, Australia given one vote coming dead last to a small hot desert country in the Middle East in front of that one billion. I dont have an issue with $45M but Australia did not come out favourably in front of that one billion.

Zing!

Spot on - our bid was excellent by any reasonalbe person's standards (not to mention the Technical Committee), but we were out played in the back rooms. Your description of Australia as an "island of supreme isolation" is both poetic and spot on! The good news it that the world is comming - not througha World Cup unfortuneately - but it is comming none the less.

Of course skippy isn't to blame..... it was Paul Hogan's fault for giving it back. We should have just kept it.

Vinay "My point is that to secure a World Cup of Football you have to play the game like the Russians did or the Qataris." Or perhaps get the system changed that doesn't perpetuate consistent underhand tactics and corruption. Make it open and allow bids to score points on various must-have criteria. I was aware of corruption in sport and i have loved football all my life but the other night it died a bit to me, really brought it home. What little respect i had for the game at the top level seems to have gone.

My point isn't regarding the merit of doing the bid or not. It's that the FIFA selection committee didn't regard it with any thought whatsoever. As a bid to get the world cup itself(which was the aim) it was a waste of time. It wouldn't have mattered whether we'd hired dancing girls for each of the delegates but unless our purpose was too advertise the country as a tourist destination we can't really claim that it did anything intended. I was fully behind the bid and I still am behind the idea that one day we'll host the cup(unless the FA pull out of FIFA and WW3 is declared) but the whole process is leaving a sour taste for quite a large number of countries. I give credit to a well organised bid but the process of selection seems somewhat flawed right from the word go.

Really, I hope hooligans return to Qatar in force and bring that country to it's knees. Their security will be easily over-run, with a tiny nation they would have a tiny army and police force not used to unruly outsiders that are physically BIGGER and not afraid to throw around their weight. If it is well organized and planned out, I think it is a possibilty to make this the first ever hooligan run state. We will give citizenship to all the poor migrant workers from the subcontinent and then force the wealthy Arabs to work for their new masters like slaves. We would invite all those poor migrants to join the 'gangs' to over-throw their overbearing pay-masters ala Spartacus. That would be the greatest laugh. Bring on Qatar I say!

Standard case of developed countries not liking it when the developing world gets in on the action. Remember, they have 12 years.

westy,the implications you draw are your own. You have presumed a lot about me. Nowhere did I compare Australia to any country.My response was to someone who had a holier than thou attitude. We can debate the AWB ad infinitum but it does no good. I accept that Australia is nowhere near as corrupt as some others. But that corruption exists is documented enough. Nothing to be proud of,I may add.

Give me a break, if the bid went to USA or even Japan and Korea. It would produce far less incredulous reaction then if Qatar won it. So Constructive criticism = neocolonist rubbish That's what I think is garbage and Australia is not the only country that is confused about this decision. Even the Japan Football Association Vice president Kuniya Daini said this "I'm surprised at the outcome," he said. "I'm not sure what was good about their bid but obviously they had some extra factor that we didn't." That's very conditional restraint praise for the Qatar bid (it had to be considering Bin Hammen is the AFC boss) considering that he couldn't find any specific praise for the Qatar bid.

Vinay it is trite from the simple perspective that no intelligent or rational person would deny there is corruption in Australia. You raised the issue and left the objectively false implication that societal corruption in Australia was the same as in the Phillipines or India.This is just not true. The Australian political culture is more mature and robust than Thailand , the Phillipines. India is astounding in its maintenance of a democratic system in the face of obstacles we can only imagine. Nevertheless Indians themselves acknowledge that systematic political corruption not only affects the elite but ordinary citizens in everyday life. If you suggest the level of systematic political corruption in Australia is antwhere near the level in India let alone places like the Phillipines or that bedrock of proper conduct thailand you perpetuate falsehoods. I Do not cofuse an individual's ethics with the systematic and endemic social and political corruption in some Asian countries. Quite simply for better or worse

Well-administered organisations get taken over and restructured by big ones with more money and or clout :-) And remember, cynical views of organisations are usually right, whereas optimistic views are usually wrong.

don't know where you work Professor - but you certainly don't know much about good administration, just dodgy ones. Eventually, houses built as such come crumbling down while well adminisered organisations prosper.

Hey Vinay. This is how my process would work in regards to selecting a world cup host. I like to see the technical criteria worth 70% , while the voting criteria that includes the final presentation worth 30%. Tally up the two scores, you get the result. Also I want every country that's under FIFAs umbrella (unless theirs a breakaway) to have a single vote, which is roughly 200 countries . Also if a country HAS NOT hosted a world cup, they should bid in EVERY world cup. If a bids technical criteria is labelled "high risk" they are immediately disqualified. Also the technical bid analysis would be run by an independent body, that know a thing or two about hosting events. At least with my process, it would cut out bribes and collusion.

Why would anyone think that a bunch of high level administrators would read a book or watch a video? These things are produced as part of the process, but noone seriously expects they would influence decisions in any way. Some of them might get a flunky to skim through in case there was anything worthwhile, but the main game is sitting in the office and waiting to see who walks through the door with the most money. I suppose some would have balanced that with notions of what's good for football, but that would only be their own views, and just based on their own ideas. Russia is a great choice, Qatar can do it.

Let's not forget that Australia threw money at African countries, in the form of "scholarships", to secure the vital 2 votes for the Olympic Games -- not to mention the odd necklace for the wives of delegates. I can't see why people are surprised. Remember when Sepp Blatter needed Australia's vote, so made sure Oceania would have a representative in the World Cup? Once the deal was done, there was another vote that removed Oceania -- the old three card trick that left us looking like fools, just as this has. If any of the advisers are public servants, they should definitely miss out on any bonuses for productivity this year, and their files should be marked "incapable of assessing strategy during negotiations". Qatar and Russia knew what to do ; we didn't.

westy,why is it trite to suggest there is corruption in Australia?The following is from the ICAC November 2010 Newsletter: The Commission experienced a surge in activity in 2009–10. We commenced 138 preliminary investigations (compared to 58 in 2008–09), recorded a 186% increase in the number of full investigations undertaken (20 operations compared to seven in 2008–09), and more than doubled the number of days dedicated to public inquiries. You can read it for yourself by visiting their website. I am on record in Indian and Australian newspapers in highlighting India's lamentable and institutionalised corruption. Nowhere have I suggested it is the same in Australia. I live here and have done for 40 years. I am an Australian first but I am not so naive as to think corruption does not happen here.Or in America or in the UK. I am not going to get into a pride competition with you or DaSilva or Whites. My point is that to secure a World Cup of Football you have to play the game like the Russians did or the Qataris. Or dont bother entering the race at all. In the end it is the poor 750 million Indians that suffer from corruption. Not the rich that can afford the bribes. In spite of the corruption in India there are many clean companies and individuals that fight a daily battle to change the culture. Westy, we all want the world to be a better place. I am just disappointed you have not bothered to check my public stance and on record criticism of India's corruption before jumping in and labelling my comment "trite"

Just wanted to add that "under Australian law, bribery of foreign officials by an Australian organisation and its employees is illegal and can be prosecuted in an Australian court, even if the bribery happened abroad." In such a high profile public exercise as a World Cup bid, it would be counter productive to get caught participating in palm-greasing and then be prosecuted back in Australia. Wouldn't be a good look for the bid.

I agree completely Australia is ranked 8th in the world in CPI (Corruption Perception Index) and 3rd out of the 30 leading exporting nations in Bribe Payers Index. Australia may have problems with corruption but we are nowhere near as bad as other countries in the world.