Football Federation Australia (FFA) are confident a successfully staged Asian Cup can provide some vital political muscle to the organisation.
The FFA were caught well and truly offside in November when the Asian Football Confederation cut Australia’s automatic qualifying spots for the Asian Champions League from two to just one.
The surprise move prompted calls from two-time A-League championship winning coach Ange Postecoglou to boycott the AFC qualifying process.
Regardless, the FFA is expected to have to work hard on and off the field to regain the lost spot.
FFA chief executive Gallop, who was only two weeks into his new role when Australia lost their second AFC automatic qualifying spot, said the 2015 Asian Cup would provide the opportunity to do just that.
“That loss of the Champions League spot took a lot of people by surprise and we need to do a lot of work to ensure our position in the AFC is recognised,” Gallop said at an event to mark two years before the Asian Cup begins.
“We need to put ourselves in the position to ensure these sort of surprises don’t happen again.
“It’s a matter of allocation resources to the issue and it is one of our priorities at the moment.”
Asian Cup Organising committee chief executive Michael Brown said he was confident Australia’s hosting of the event would bring it closer to other countries in the region.
“We are working closely with the Asian Football Confederation to ensure Australia hosts a world-class event which celebrates football and continues Australia’s reputation for sporting event excellence,” Brown said.
“Our vision is to deliver a world-class event that celebrates Asia’s rich football culture and leaves an enduring legacy for the game in Australia.
“This presents an outstanding opportunity for Australia to strengthen our cultural, social and economic ties with Asia, including some of our most important trading partners.
“The Federal Government’s Asian Century White Paper acknowledged the power of sport to bridge language and cultural barriers and serve as a platform to build relationships.
“It confirms that events like the Asian Cup offer opportunities for Australia to build on our international reputation for delivering major sporting events, and to promote Australian tourism, trade and other interests in Asia.”
Australia, Japan, North Korea and South Korea have qualified for the 2015 Asian Cup, with qualifying for the remaining spots to begin on February 6 in Jordan.
The final will be held at Sydney’s ANZ Stadium with the Socceroos to play each of their three pool matches in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.
The FFA are expecting expecting around 45,000 international visitors to come to Australia for the event and said that the 2011 event, in which Australia was defeated by Japan 1-0 in the final, was watched by 500 million people.
Si
Guest
I'm very happy with the schedule. Clearly it has been designed to help the teams play at their best by reducing travel time. My question is will there be any merchandise available and when will it go on sale?
Timmy
Guest
I think it's disgraceful for both semis, the 3rd place playoff and final to all be played in Sydney. It is a clear example of bias shown by the FFA towards the city in which pretty much all major football events have been staged in the past decade. I also think that it is a poor business decision in that you are limiting access to "Australia's" showpiece football event even further than it already was with Adelaide and Perth being snubbed of any matches whatsoever. If this schedule remains in place I fear it will also lead to empty seats at these games because with there are very few people in Australia, let alone Sydney, who would be willing to attend both semi finals, or a semi and a 3rd place playoff, due to monetary reasons as well as lack of interest. Personally I would have one semi final and the final in Sydney. With the other semi and the 3rd place playoff being held in Melbourne and Brisbane respectively. It is the asian cup Australia not the Asian cup Sydney.
Brick Tamlin of the Pants Party
Guest
Yeah i wouldn't use Qatar as a gauge of how good our Asian Cup will be.There are more people who are fans and directly involved in football in Australia than the whole population of Qatar.Of course you will have games which won't attract a crowd but look at the recent Union world cup there were games involving the likes of Romania which would only attract 12k or so.Though of course if Oman v Bahrain doesn't get over 20,000 people will be quick to call the event a failure.
Punter
Guest
I think you will be surprised.
albatross
Roar Pro
>>>The Asian Cup is the 3rd most watched football tournament in the world with 500M watching the last one in Qatar 2011 Just not all that many watching the games live at the grounds
Fussball ist unser leben
Roar Guru
@Lucan I've read through the media statement in the past, and again today, and there is no comment made about the Asian Cup being part of the deal. In fact, during the presser, Foxtel also said: "we’ll continue to deliver the most comprehensive and entertaining coverage for fans through our live and high definition coverage of the Socceroos, A-League, and Barclays Premier League, plus our weekly magazine lineup of Kick Off, Matchday Saturday and Sunday Shootout". So, basically, the presser was: a) FFA telling us there's a new TV deal for the A-League; b) Foxtel telling us they've got a wide portfolio of football products; c) SBS telling us they're getting involved with A-League, will continue involvement with UCL & will have exclusive rights to the FIFA WC tournaments until 2022. The devil is always in the detail.
Kasey
Guest
All goverened by the same overseeing body from a bunker underneath Docklands. Victorians are special, but to my knowledge they have yet to claim seperatist status as an Autonomous region like the Basques or the Quebeckers and the Catalans etc. WA to my knowledge are the only statein AU to have had a serious attempt to succede from the Commonwealth.
Lucan
When we saw the new TV deal press conference/release, AC2015 was specifically included in these details. Wouldn't it be wrong to claim this as part of the FFA/Fox/SBS deal if it has nothing to do with the FFA?
Peter Wilson
Roar Guru
What about NSW and Qld teams in a Victorian AFL competition?
Peter Wilson
Roar Guru
The Federal govt, NSW, QLD, Vic and ACT govts are all underwriting the tournament to the tune of $61M. And under the agreement with WSG the FFA get $1M per game or $56M for the tournament and then add the advertising rights, sponsorships, merchandise etc etc. The FFA are not going to lose money, so ticket prices are not going to be exorbitant. In fact there will be plenty of good deals especially for overseas visitors and lower ranked nation's games. The objective is to put on the "best games ever", boost Australia's standing in the AFC and promote Australia's relationship and trade with the rest of Asia. The Asian Cup is the 3rd most watched football tournament in the world with 500M watching the last one in Qatar 2011, so they don't want to play to empty stadiums by ripping people off - just don't expect Socceroos games or the final to be too heavily discounted.
mahonjt
Guest
This I agree with as Sydney born, Melbourne living footbal fan. Time and time again Sydney dissapoint the Socceroos - Melbourne never does. But if the NSW Government provided more support (which I dont know) then that is fair enough.
mahonjt
Guest
No. The AFC cannot be compared to UEFA. We use the top flight club football competition in the region to do the same thing that all other AFC strategies are aimed at - developing football in Asia. It is reasonable therefore that criteria based upon league development be used in Asia and not in Europe. What is not reasonable, is politics that applies these criteria poorly. There is no evidence that the AFC have treated us unfairly in terms of the criteria, but a prime face case that it did not handle the transition well at all. Many A-League fans were understanding of the reduction, but not of how it was handled - in particular Perth fans who were disadvantaged. Finally, as to the hysteria about Qatar - I ask those critical of the 4 places they have been given to forget the World Cup decision (although it still hurts) and simply apply the AFC criteria. If you do so you will understand why Qatar has been rewarded.
mahonjt
Guest
Albatross - indeed ou are. Football has moved on fortunately and our view of Qatar is not inormed by facts - just emotion.
Dave
Guest
SFC did a promotion for the Wellington game last season where if you had a kiwi passport there was some big discount for a ticket (can't remember exactly how much), but it was a great success. Wellington crowds had always been some of the smallest in my experience (including that finals match a few years ago), but this one got a pretty decent turn out. Definitely an idea for Asian cup tickets anyway...
Cam
Guest
Not a fan of Sydney having two venues and hosting the Final, Semis and 3rd place. Australia is hosting this tournament right? Spread the love.
Kasey
Guest
QSAF the main difference in the situation is that both Wales and England are in the same confederation(UEFA). A similar situation exists with Canadian teams in MLS(CONCACAF) New Zealand is in OFC we are in AFC, not much correspondence to be entered into there I think. Agree or disagree, AFC have made their position clear. Save for the disbanding of OFC or NZ joining AFC, comparing Cardiff City and Swansea to Wellnix is a flawed comparison. As far as AFC are concerned we only have 9 teams in our league.
Ballymore
Guest
Let air-condition the stadiums.
AGO74
Guest
Back room politics is exactly why the AFC has this subjective criteria. As it is, I'm not too worried. 1.5 spots for 10 teams is ok. Let's face it, if our half spot team can't beat a club from Thailand, Indonesia etc then they realistically don't deserve to compete in the Champions League. Some will interpret that as being disparaging to the likes of those mentioned but the reality is we should beat them.
Qantas supports Australian Football
Guest
The Welsh FA have UCL representatives from their WFA league.. Also Cardith an Swansea FC play in the Engish FA and if they can make UCL cut in the EPL they would also be elegible to participate. Definately room for debate with the AFC..
nickoldschool
Roar Guru
Agree vinie, except that I would go way under $50 per ticket for a, say, mid-week Thailand v Oman game. In 2003, I got aud10-15 tickets for games such as Argentina v Romania or Boks v Georgia at the rwc. If we want the many Asian students, expats etc who live in Oz to support their teams we need to start at aud20 max. Same for the Aussie public tbh. I hope the FFA gets it right as overpriced tickets would mean all efforts that are currently made at promoting football in this country with the HAL would not be converted at international level. The world will be watching us here.