It won’t capture the imagination as much as the World Cup bid announcement, in fact there probably wont even be a live announcement on TV and it will only get a passing mention on news bulletins, if it all, but in just 21 days time Australia will be confirmed as the host of the 2015 AFC Asian Cup.
After the disappointment of missing out on 2022 in humiliating circumstances, most people will skoff and say ‘big deal’, but it is exactly that. It is a big deal.
Some say we were naïve in going for 2022 and that we needed to prove ourselves as a football nation. The 2015 AFC Asian Cup provides us with an opportunity to do just that, but perhaps more importantly it will give us a chance to prove we’re an Asian nation.
Despite rising coverage, Australian’s still largely ignore Asian Football and disregard it as ‘second-rate’. Australia went into the 2007 AFC Asian Cup with largely that attitude. It was presumed we would waltz in and win it at our first attempt without a worry in the world.
We were quickly, and rightly, given a rude shock.
What 2015 will do is showcase the best Asian football has to offer to this largely uneducated audience. It will, hopefully, break down barriers, remove stereotypes and allow Australia to embrace Asian football.
It will, hopefully, also allow Asia to embrace Australia.
There is still apprehension to Australia joining the AFC from some quarters. We’re not viewed as an Asian nation. Even Mohammed Bin Hammam, the AFC President who played a large part in Australia being accepted into The AFC, still doesn’t really view Australia as an “Asian” nation, as evidenced by his recent comments.
When asked by respected Asian football journalist, John Duerden, whether he would give his vote to another Asian nation in the event Qatar were knocked out of the bidding to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Bin Hammam replied, “You are considering Australia as an Asian country?”
That answer says so much about Australia’s standing within the AFC.
Australia’s integration into Asia will take years, perhaps decades, before we’re really considered to be a true part of the AFC. We’re one of the only nations within the AFC that I am aware of that doesn’t compete in it’s own regional football tournament – the AFF Cup (also known as the Suzuki Cup).
Getting full membership of the ASEAN Football Federation and having a team participate in the biennial AFF Cup must be close to top of the agenda for the FFA. It is important politically as well as being important for our football development.
We need our football powerbrokers to take up key positions within Asian football and we need to regularly have a member of the AFC Executive Committee.
Talk of Australia needing a seat on the FIFA Exco are massively premature, especially when we’re so weak politically in our own region. Let’s first “conquer” Asia before we think about conquering the world.
And that is what the 2015 AFC Asian Cup will help us achieve. By no means will we have “conquered” Asia by simply hosting the tournament, but we will have gone a long way to improving our standing within the region and our acceptance as an Asian nation – both here and abroad.
That is why hosting the 2015 AFC Asian Cup is a big deal.
Futbanous
Guest
Should always have been a priority Asia. However Frank had his dream,but Asia was the real way to grow football. Not only on the park,but at the turnstiles. Consider the crowds for World Cup qualifiers & Asian cup qualifiers & revenue generated since we became a member of the AFC. Then remember the revenue generated in our Oceania days. As Fussball said, regular meaningful matches-priceless.
sydboz
Guest
Also there will be no better feeling for Australia than to go in as defending champions on your home turf in 2015, that's about as good as you can get, the only way it could be bettered is if we can win it at home, consecutive Asian Cup victories what a dream that would be, and that's all after the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
sydboz
Guest
Anything less than a win will be abject failure. When Australia initially wanted to become a part of Asia they lost the vote 156 to 1. The only reason Australia is a part of Asia, now is because it fitted in perfectly with Bin Hammam's plan of getting Qatar the hosting rights for 2022. It was he who instrumented the shift of Australia from Oceania to Asia. Japan, South Korea etc did not want Australia there and neither does still the vast majority of the confederation despite Australia giving the confederation considerable strength and being it's highest ranked team. The only way to make them respect Australia and for Australia to gain the respect that they deserve is to win the region's highest prize, the Asian Cup. That is why this Asian cup matters more than any and anything short of bringing the cup back with us, will be a disaster. It's about time Australia finally pulled their pants up and showed that they deserve the highest rank in the region, it's time to earn RESPECT.
Joe FC
Guest
-"No need for football to make up stories about expansion..." LOL good line Fussball.
Lazza
Guest
You can say that again. After being starved of my favourite sport for years I just haven't got the time to watch and read everything on offer these days. With Pay TV, the internet and Australia moving to Asia I could spend 24Hrs a day following Football. It doesn't leave much time for other sports except for AFL and a bit of Rugby during the short off season.
Roarchild
Roar Guru
As long as there not expecting Timmy Cahill I think an Olyroos team or all A league team would be a good fit. Maybe use a few of our players who are over there to fill out the squad for PR purposes. Perth Glorys back up keeper just left for Indonesia last week.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Excellent article, Dasher39, and I totally agree with all your observations. Being part of Asia means we no longer have to wait years between meaningful matches. After the Asian Cup in January, we'll have qualifiers for the Football tournament at the 2012 London Olympics and, by year's end, the first round of Asian qualifiers for Brasil 2014 will commence. No need for football to make up stories about expansion ... there's not enough time to discuss real football stories every day!
Dasher39
Roar Rookie
Not a bad suggestion Roarchild, probably finances dictate that it might not be possible at the moment, but I think it's something that has some merit. As for the AFF Cup, I understand how big it is to the SE Asian nations and am wary of Australia just coming in and dominating. That's why i think we should send a home-grown U23 side. The only problem with that may come from those nations seeing that as disrespectful to the tournament and that's a delicate issue we'll need to work around. But we've seen a full HAL squad draw 0-0 with Indonesia in Jakarta and beat them 1-0 in Brisbane, so their best can match it with our (HAL) best. So I don't think a HAL U23 side would dominate it, in fact I'm not sure they'd even win it, but the experience they would gain would be invaluable. The added competition could be good for the other nations as well. The PSSI agreed, as part of our agreement with them, to help facilitate our full membership of ASEAN. So it is definitely on the cards. Whether that leads to competing in the AFF Cup remains to be seen.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
And, not a day goes by without some AFL-fan, entering a Football discussion, and posting the same, clichéd, repetitive, negative comments about football. The Asian Cup is the 2nd most prestigious tournament open to Australian footballers. It ranks even higher than the Football tournament at the Summer Olympics. But, perhaps, you need to be a football fan - to live & breathe the Beautiful Game - to be aware of this. And, with the 2 most populous nations on earth - The People's Republic of China & India - both participating in the 2011 tournament, it should attract a record TV audience.
Timmuh
Roar Guru
For me, keeping in mind that Association Football isn't my major sporting interest and so I come from less knowledge than most on here, the idea of scholarships for players from under-resourced nations makes perfect sense. If some way can be found of keeping some tie after the scholarship ends, all the better. Make the presence in Asia one of helping nations foster their youth, while assisting our own as well through under-aged friendlies, youth tours, scholarships, etc. And, importantly, being an agent to promote the womens game in Asia. Gaining some connection to enhancing the grassroots in nations that need it - as you say, Bangladesh, Cambodia and Laos would be among those, smaller nations such as Nepal as well - may be a way for Australia to gain credibility as "Asian" in those nations where we need it. With some, eg Burma, there are political obstacles which may necessitate not including them in the concept.
Roarchild
Roar Guru
I think we should have stood up for ourselves a bit more in regards to the stadium requirements. I know Hindmarsh doesn't meet the criteria but in a practical sense it's perfect for the Asian cup. We should have argued that it's an iconic ground (the home of Asian football in Australia) and worthy of special consideration.
Lazza
Guest
It probably just shows the rising power of the Asian bloc in FIFA rather than wholesale corruption. Europe doesn't dominate FIFA anymore just like England & Aus no longer dominate Cricket politics. Blatter, by all accounts wasn't too keen on Qatar but that's how the votes went.
Roarchild
Roar Guru
Australia’s integration into Asia will take years, perhaps decades, before we’re really considered to be a true part of the AFC. We’re one of the only nations within the AFC that I am aware of that doesn’t compete in it’s own regional football tournament – the AFF Cup (also known as the Suzuki Cup). Getting full membership of the ASEAN Football Federation and having a team participate in the biennial AFF Cup must be close to top of the agenda for the FFA. It is important politically as well as being important for our football development. I think for the AFF cup we would be better of having a presence there (referees, officials) but not nessesarily competing. It's a fairly well balanced tournament and the highlight of the year for a few of the nations involved as it's there most prestigious trophy they have a chance of winning. A final between Malaysia and Singapore would be a pretty big deal. One way I think we could improve ties is by linking each A league club with a certain Asean nation (we should also do similar for India and Sri lanka). That club should then have two spots in there NYL team which could be players from that nation e.g. Melbourne Victory can have two Thais in there NYL side. I t would be set up as more of a scholership so even if the player doesn't end up good enough for the A league proper once they turn 20 hopefully they go back to their own country as a better footballer and as a friend of Australia. If they are good enough and become a full international then it's win win for both nations. For countries like Laos and Cambodia these scholerships would probably be seen as a pretty big deal.
The_Wookie
Roar Guru
i couldnt find anything that suggest rotation, but if its the case then i retract my earlier statement.
Roarchild
Roar Guru
Why doesn't it compare? The AFC have a roation system in place too. Only Sth East based nations could bid, China and Korea (who were interested) weren't allowed. It seems about as comparable as you can get in my eyes.
Timmuh
Roar Guru
This one I hope we do get. The demands of hosting a World Cup are, I believe, out of our reach (and so far out of Qatar's reach that one can only conclude corruption is more rampant in FIFA than in the Pakistani cricket team) due to the lack of large cities. An Asian Cup, while nowhere near as big, is a large tournament and something Australia can host without pouring additional billions of dollars into infrastructure that will only be utilised once in its lifetime.
vin
Guest
About time somebody said, loved your article Dasher, we should host and asian cup before we decide to take a world cup on behalf of asia, weve only been in the confederation for 4 years and already was trying to take their next world cup before china, or middle east even had an opportunity. lets conquer asia first on the field in all levels of the game (matilldas are asian champions) then lets try bid for a cup. nice article Dasher
The_Wookie
Roar Guru
im not disagreeing with the premise of the article - we do need to embrace asia. I simply dont agree that the AFC cup thing is as big as its made out to be.
punter
Guest
You are an AFL stooge, you make a great song & dance about 3 or 4 people playing AFL in those countries & here we are about to embark on the Asian cup in 20 days time & in 4 years host it, you come on with a negative comment. You say you are a sports follower yet every post I read of yours praises the AFL & is negative towards other sports.
punter
Guest
Enjoyed your article Dasher, I think this is a very important for Australian football to understand the importance of Asia as a footballing region. This is our future.