The envelope opened to read Qatar. Unfortunately for all sports fans and patriotic Australians, whatever we do, or say now will not get us back the FIFA World Cup for 2022.
As an entire nation of proud Footballing fans of every code, we need to show FIFA what we can present to the FIFA World Cup if we are to bid for any future tournament.
I am going to appeal to everyone that after the initial shock of being pipped by the country ranked 113th in the world, Qatar, all is irreversible, and instead of being sore losers, I implore all Australians to let go of the sour grapes and to move forward.
Taking a leaf out of Julia Gillard’s book, it’s time to ‘Move Australia Forward’.
But what is the next step for our Football Federation and culture?
I’m sure this opinion is shared by many within Footballing circles, that we need to focus on the Hyundai A-League, as the situation within some clubs is reaching dire status.
Some are being bailed out, some are in the clear, however with the new Sydney club set to debut next season, the A-League needs to take a good look at itself and restructure itself in order to survive.
However the FFA chooses to conduct this is entirely their business. But we as fans ask that they do not rue a good chance.
Next up we need to focus on the 2015 Asian Cup in which we are the sole bidders, and provided all goes to plan we will host. Now, with Qatar to host the 2011 Asian Cup, we have the exclusive chance to show FIFA what they will miss out on.
If we genuinely believe that we are better hosts, then we need to show it with our confederation’s show piece event.
Next up we need to not only drop the sore loser attitude, but we need to adopt a different approach. This may be a ludicrous suggestion, but we need to show FIFA that we are a nation that is easy going, and as accepting as we say we are.
Forget the Facebook groups declaring Qatar’s inability to host such a large tournament (and the comedic group declaring Antarctica’s bid for the FIFA World Cup 2026), we need to embrace the Qatari Bid.
Take the bid into consideration. Give the Middle East a chance. We wanted it here, but give them a shot. On a Government or Federation level, pledge support for the Qatari bid, possibly organise a friendly match with the Qatari squad in one of their venues.
We need to show that we are willing to support the expansion of football in developing nations, which is one of the points we adopted for our own bid. We want football to become bigger in our country, but we’re not the only ones that need it. Support the other nations, and maybe FIFA will support ours.
Embrace the Qatari bid. It is hard, especially for me who had already planned how I was to spend the month of the Cup in Australia. But we need to prove to FIFA that we can move on, and we can be supportive of the team that did pip us.
Don’t reply with allegations of bribery and vote selling, the British media will take care of that if it is not all fabricated. But let us support the bid, I cannot stress this enough. Give the Qatari’s a chance.
What would you say if nobody gave us a chance?
Chuq
Roar Pro
No, FFA has said they would hold the Asian Cup in January. Weather isn't an issue, but stadium availability is and the precedent exists for continental champs being played in July (Asian Cup 2011, African Nations Cup).
peeeko
Roar Guru
msate the asian cup is normally held in june, the 2011 version was moved due to the qatar heat. in 2015 it will revert back to june in Australia
westy
Guest
One point I forgot, having two distinct federations would also help give both sides a fairer representation at the world cup and more teams from each side participate
westy
Guest
They tried it on a small 5-a-side stadium, but if there is a glitch or a power failure then everyone is screwed. I still question the decision, but I've learned to accept it and move on. I just hope it doesn't fail on the biggest spectacle the world has seen.
westy
Guest
I'm all for the middle east having a world cup. but I think 2022 is a bit premature for that area, yet again I'm not an exco member, so my opinion on this wouldn't mean much. But I recall the discovery channel show "Lonely Planet" stating that Doha/Qatar has gained the reputation around the Middle East of being "the dullest place on earth". I personally have not seen this episode, I only know this through newspapers and word of mouth, but to think that Qatar has that sort of reputation from the very region its supposed to be representing is more than a joke. I reckon the U.A.E should have bidded for it, but I'm not aware of stadiums, infrastructure, transport, tourism areas, etc, in the country so I can't defend that idea. I personally would like to see the Asian confederation merge with the Oceanian Federation and then split it in two; then forming the East Asia/Pacific Confederation and the West Asia Confederation, or something along those lines i think would work better. This is because 12 years is a long time to wait for a world cup bid because of one that was on the other side of the confederation. A 12 year wait for a bid that we didn't gain much from is a long and frustrating time. The 2002 world cup was hardly a victory for Qatar and the same goes for 2022 for S.Korea and Japan. In terms of world cup qualifying, each confederation could get 2.5 spots and they fight for the .5 spot. Two confederations would work better in many ways, such as the Champions League/Club World Cup qualification and World Cup Bidding/Hosting and Qualification, but all ideas have good and bad aspects. Thoughts...
eric
Guest
Could you imagine what would happen if there was a technical glitch and the air-conditioning at one of Qatar's proposed stadiums failed?The Qatar bid is so reliant on technology that hasn't even been tested, which makes it hard to support for me.
Beer O'Clock
Guest
This is your chance to prove to the world that you do indeed love football. With 9 Middle east nations involved, and tickets selling as low as 5 Qatari rial ( $2 Australian) nothing short of sold out games will be an embarrassment.
Michael Turner
Roar Pro
I read this comment....its disappeared....?
roarsome
Guest
Michael Turner
Roar Pro
Im in talks with one of the heads of the bids at the moment. The FFA are resiliently sticking with the underdeveloped Ian Rowden bid, however they may switch to the other depending on whether they pull their heads out of the sand and realise that the other bid is formed far better than Rowden's.
ech
Guest
…Great to see people trying to look on the Australian “failed” bid positively. I also find a little bit of irony hidden in hosting 2011 Asian Cup in Qatar and 2015 Asian Cup in Australia. Temperature in Qatar is around “pleasant” 25 degrees Celsius in January as someone mentioned in the press recently (So FIFA will be tempted to move 2022 WC from June/July to January for 2022 after AC next year). January is also considered the hottest month in Australia with temperature regularly around 30 degrees and above. FFA is not offering air-conditioned stadiums for the Asian Cup although there will be plenty of local beer in supply I guess. Most Australian city dwellers are on holidays during January more interested in surfing, partying, BBQ’s and life on the beach. I wonder how many will flock to watch a game - let’s say Iraq vs Bahrain played at Sydney Football stadium on Sunday at 5PM just couple of weeks after Christmas. (Local team - Sydey FC bearly gets 10000 at the moment). FFA was only bidder for 2015 Asian Cup. No one really bothered to analyse the merit or wisdom of that bid then. How strange… I think we are trying to run before we learn to walk when it comes to understading politics of AFF and FIFA... (Hey, we really wanted WC not Asian Cup. How come we achieved the reverse result?) Not sure if we will manage to persuade the world (or Asia) in 2015 (four years from now) that they completely overlooked our passion for the world game when they decided to award 2022 World Cup to Qatar (twelve years from now). Well, the only way how to get the World Cup to Australia in near future is - to follow the script.Let's seal it. Paul Hogan is not eager to chase Skippy the kangaroo. He would have to face ATO again. So we could keep it….
M1tch
Roar Guru
If a world cup in South Africa can work..it can work anywhere!
CT
Guest
new Sydney club will probably be 2012 I think now
True Tah
Guest
"however with the new Sydney club set to debut next season" - has this been formally announced yet?
Michael Turner
Roar Pro
I would just like to ask mate that you possibly email me as I am quite strongly interested in finding out a bit more about the acceptance of Qatar in the Middle east and Arab States. I will be working in part with some of the bid's advocates and Chris Tanner who will be flying to Doha every now and then to help their team. If you would like to email me (anyone is able to in order to provide feedback I am located at (m_turner94[at]live.com.au). I will aim to cover the Qatar bid closer from now on for the Roar readers. Thank you.
roarsome
Guest
I don't have a problem at all with Qatar hosting the cup. Its the manner in which they and Russia were decided to host I have doubts about. Either way lets kick some ass over in Qatar next month!
Qatar 2022
Guest
didnt australia try to host to the world cup to make football here bigger and increase the crowds numbers? well i think there will be big crowds for this asian cup , the country is buzzing, people are singing and dancing in the streets, the entire population came out to greet the bus in the street parade, its not just been our celebration , saudi arabia and iran and all those middle eastern countries celebrated it like it was theirs. just look at our final presentation and it previews what the celebration would have been like if qatar won, well it was like that nice article man! thankyou! we are autralias friend!
Chuq
Roar Pro
I have no doubt Qatar will do a great job with the Asian Cup - it is an event more suited to their scale and more importantly, it is being held in their winter with temperatures in the mid 20s. I still can't see many people travelling to it (in comparison to the WC), due to some of their more restrictive laws, but that's the same for the last Asian cup - matches not involving the host were poorly attended. Qatar might get a boost of AC crowds due to the WC announcement, however.
The Special One
Guest
The 2011 ASIAN Cup is the perfect showcase for Qatar to show what it can do. I have no doubt they will host this tournament to a high level. However im really looking forward to seeing what the crowd support will be like. They barely watch their own team play. I hardly see crowds flocking to games to be honest.