Following FIFA awarding the World Cup hosting rights to Qatar, it is highly unlikely that Australia will get to host the premier sporting event in the near future. In fact, Australia may never host a World Cup.
FIFA’s continental rotation rules, the tendency to host the event in Europe every 8-12 years, and the rise of nations such as India and China are all factors that will most likely rule Australia out of contention for many years to come.
But while the men’s tournament is probably out of reach, the Women’s World Cup certainly isn’t.
The Matildas, as most football fans will know, are generally more successful than the Socceroos on an international stage. They are currently ranked tenth in the world and have only missed out on qualifying for the Women’s World Cup once and have reached the quarter-finals of that competition twice.
In 2010, they were crowned Asian Champions, a feat that still eludes the Socceroos. After his side’s group match against Australia at the last Women’s World Cup, Brazil manager Kleiton Lima went so far as to say that the Matildas were serious contenders to win a World Cup in the near future.
The W-League in Australia is running strongly, with ABC’s Live Match of the Week every Saturday afternoon often drawing higher ratings than many A-League games on Foxtel. Interest in women’s football, and Australian football in general, would only increase if we won hosting rights for a World Cup.
In Germany, matches averaged attendances of over 25, 000. Who’s to say Australia wouldn’t match this? A tournament of this scale would hugely boost the W-League’s profile, and make it a better attended and better watched competition.
The next Women’s World Cup is in Canada, in 2015, and so the 2019 edition would be a logical edition for the FFA to bid for. Our chances of winning the hosting rights are arguably much better than our ill-fated attempt for the 2022 Men’s Cup.
Thus far, Middle Eastern nations, with barrels of petrodollars to spend, have shown absolutely no interest in bidding for a women’s tournament. The USA has hosted the Cup twice already, and so any bid for the 2019 edition would probably be off the agenda.
Instead, media reports point to possible bids from South Africa, Poland and Japan. Japan, already favourites, have been sounded out by Sepp Blatter, but their bid could be derailed by their already confirmed hosting of the Rugby World Cup in the same year. Our bid would by no means be an assured success, but if the FFA begins planning now we could have a serious chance.
The key is to ensure that the FFA doesn’t take their eye off the A-League (as they were accused of doing for our 2022 bid), however a bid for the Women’s event would most likely be less intensive than for the men’s edition anyway.
If the FFA can find a balance and still maintain focus on domestic football in Australia, then a Women’s World Cup bid could potentially be a huge boost to women’s football and football generally in Australia.
vince
Guest
and keep foxtel away from it, let every one watch it an not just rthose that can afford to pay see their national team!!
BigAl
Guest
. . . not to mention the amount of free time available to participate in and monitor blogs !!!!!!1
Alexander Grant
Roar Pro
Hopefully so. That'd be the best solution. Makes sense. Thank you for the write up.
tj
Guest
a world cup would be great promotion for football in australia , even so womens. it would generate x amount more interest, respect, $$$. but i agree the olympics is completely out experienced by WC. and I lived in sydney. there isn't really anyone "passionate" about badmington, swimming, or rowing & thats the diff. and these arent spectator sports: so stop showing them on TV!
Griffo
Roar Guru
Well, well, well...looks like we went to the same athletics session ;-) (around 93K for that morning session if I remember correctly). Sat next to a couple of Japanese nationals who were very happy for their country woman to take out the gold in the marathon...great roar from the crowd when she finished. For what it is worth I think the Women's World Cup would be a great event here. It is a different event to the Olympics or the male World Cup but I think Australia could run the event well if it has the forethought of boosting the women's game and making it accessible to the public. We don't need to burden the event with trying to emulate the 2011 World Cup in Germany. Just like the 2000 Olympics we'll run an awesome event while offering a relaxed, welcoming attitude to teams and visitors.
Sports Candy
Roar Pro
The recent announcements from FFA and the growing sponsorship and revenue streams makes the A-League more viable than it has ever been. When the next FFA media rights deals are finalised later this year, the FFA will double their revenue share to clubs to $2.8 million or more per club, which will make the individual clubs more financially viable as well. Its a matter of time, but the people playing it and watching it will continue to grow and take more of an interest in the A-League and Socceroos and the A-League should be financially viable within a few years. As that grows the media interest will grow. I thought that last season the media coverage of the A-League was very good and a lot better than in previous years. And the tone of the articles have moved away from "Soccer Hooligan Violence" headlines, although some of it does still exist in the flat earth corners of the media.
Sports Candy
Roar Pro
Don't forget that football has overtaken netball as the biggest participation and fastest growing sport for girls and women, so there is a potential pool of spectators there already. If its a WC you mightn't get as much interest or coverage as the men's but it would still get a lot of interest just because its a WC. I'm sure the politicians and governments would get behind it as well because of the tourism aspect and women's issues are seen as a good vote getter. The A-League Women's Grand Final got a good crowd and rated well on ABC - I think more people watched it than the A-League games on Fox that weekend.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
JH Football has been the highest participation sport for at least 20 years - even when AUS NT wasn't even qualifying for the FIFA WC, let alone hosting the event. Football continued to be the highest participation sport in AUS during the final years of the semi-professional NSL, during the years when there was no elite national football league and, now, during the early years of the fledgling A-League. There is ZERO evidence that the RU WC has had any lasting impact on the level of participation, media interest, team sponsorship or spectators watching Super Rugby in Australia. There is ZERO evidence that Cricket's various World tournaments in Australia have had any lasting impact on crowds at District Cricket or Sheffield Shield. I'm keen on the Asian Cup in Australia because I keen to have our Asian comrades see tangible evidence of AUS fully embracing the region. And, I will attend as many Asian Cup 2015 matches as I possibly can but, from "fan experience" perspective, I have no doubt Japan or Korea Republic would create a more sophisticated & football-crazy atmosphere. Finally, I've attended more than a dozen AFL Grand Finals (watching my team win most of them) & the atmosphere is nothing compared to what I experienced in GER. I've attended the Boxing Day test (Ashes) in the mid-80s & the 100k MCG crowd created nothing like the atmosphere I experienced in Germany 2006. I was also fortunate to get tickets to the opening day of an Ashes test at Lord's. The ground holds only 28k, but the atmosphere was better than 100k at the MCG on Boxing Day.
JH
Guest
I have little interest in soccer but I'd love to see it happen. Capucchino makes the 'travel issue' okay. Perhaps the Sydney pool could play a game in Canberra, Wollongong or Newcastle while the Melbourne group could go to Geelong and/or Tassie. Fussball ist unser leben: For soccer to survive in Australia, it needs promotion. I am fully aware that junior participation rates are highest for soccer than any other sport but this does not translate into financial success for the A-League or strong results for the national side. Surely the WWC would help the A-league as well as the W-League. And by doing this it would help the game in Australia. I do understand your reasoning but just because Australian crowds are quieter or less educated than our friends in Germany, England or anywhere else, is not a reason to not hold the cup here. The atmosphere at some sporting events (State of Origin, AFL Grand Final, Bledisloe Cup, Boxing Day Test) are incredible. There is no reason why this can't be replicated to soccer. Finally, just a quick question: Are you against the 2015 Asian Cup in Australi for the same reason? I agree that an Asian Cup game would be more exciting to watch in Japan, South Korea or possibly somewhere like Vietnam. But again, having a major tournament will benefit the game here (as long as the local competitions aren't ignored in the meantime as the OP mentioned).
Midfielder
Guest
Cap I think it is an excellent idea just don't want to visit all those stadium issues we had with the men's WC bid... no such thing as a poor WC event to have and I think the Women's WC is growing each time it is played...
MV Dave
Guest
Spot on about the stadia...the final could be at Etihad or Allianz but all other games at 20-30,000 capacity with several games at Regional Centres. Would love to have a WWC or U/20 WC in Oz. I remember the success of the Youth WC in Oz in 1993 with a sellout final of 40,000 and ave of 15,000 per game (close to 500,000 spectators in total).
Cappuccino
Roar Guru
The key, I think, would be to ensure a solid marketing campaign and to play matches in more appropriate stadiums, like Suncorp, Parramatta, SFS, AAMI Park, Etihad etc. rather than the likes of the MCG or Stadium Australia. If that happens, I see no reason why a Women's World Cup wouldn't at least match the 2015 Asian Cup in terms of attendence.
Cappuccino
Roar Guru
I think it would again make sense to host matches along the Eastern Seaboard, as the FFA plan to do for Asian Cup 2015. If not, each group could be assigned a host city, and only in the knockout rounds would major travel be nessecary. For example, Group A/D: Sydney- SFS & Parramatta B/E: Melbourne- AAMI Park & Etihad C: SE Queensland- Suncorp & Robina Park D: West- Hindmarsh & nib Stadium Wouldn't be that difficult to organise travel logistics.
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Whilst work commitments prevented me from spending a lot of time at Sydney2000, I did attend: weightlifting, athletics (in the stadium for the end of the Women's marathon), swimming, tennis & football (only the opening match at the MCG). Yes, I found the Games extremely well-organised but, having experienced a WC in Germany in 2006, I would rate the "fan-experience" (scale of 1 to 100, where 100 is "the best") - not just in the stadium, but in the streets, the bars, the cafes, etc. ... * FIFA WC206 Germany: 100 * Olympics 2000 Sydney: 20
Andrew Hawkins
Expert
You obviously didn't experience the Olympics in Sydney then...having experienced sport worldwide, I thoroughly believe Australia provides a brilliant atmosphere. Yes, we may not have the singing, etc, that you may get elsewhere - we also don't need to have barbed wire fences around the pitch.
Alexander Grant
Roar Pro
"I’m happy to always travel to Europe, Africa or Sth/Central America" So what job do you have? Can I have it? Aren't you up for giving the people a chance to see something they wouldn't otherwise have an opportunity to see?
Alexander Grant
Roar Pro
Unfortunately we still suffer from the issue of major distances between capitals. I could almost guarantee that a playing nation wouldn't be able to play their games all in the same city during a group stage. It's a hassle for both the team and fans alike, and an issue that was continually brought up during our bid for men's edition. If that is deemed manageable, then this bid is certainly viable.
Matt F
Roar Guru
Agree. It would be great from a football perspective but it would have to be financially viable for it to go ahead. The FFA wouldn't commit to it unless they were confident of getting some sort of return. I know the German tournament got great crowds but it's very difficult to see it doing the same here unfortunately
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
Quite happy to never see an FIFA WC - men's or women's - come to in Australia. In my opinion, Australia provides an extremely unsophisticated & uninspiring culture for watching sport. Yes, people come in big numbers - because they love going to events - but, the understanding of underlying sports is unsophisticated and the level of fan engagement is timid: there is no colour, no noise (other than Aussie Aussie Aussie oi oi oi oi), no music, no dancing, no singing. For watching global football tournaments I'm happy to always travel to Europe, Africa or Sth/Central America.
Kasey
Guest
Could be a tough sell for tickets…e.g: I love football, but I’m not sure even I’d be that interested in watching that much women’s football