Australia’s bid to host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups will deliver a greater impact than qualifying. Australia’s strong economy, along with the opportunity to grow football in Asia, will help the nation’s bid to host the World Cup
“This big dream to bring the World Cup to Australia makes me realize how far Australian football has come,” Socceroos captain Lucas Neill said. “It would be great for football, great for the economy, great for business, great for tourism and great for the Australian people.”
The details of Australia’s bid are contained in a 750-page book presented to FIFA President Sepp Blatter and includes a plan for 10 cities including former Olympics hosts Sydney and Melbourne to hold World Cup games.
“The stability of Australia of both the democracy but also the economy is a big element internationally,” Sports Minister Kate Ellis said. “But I really think that the potential growth of football in this region, in Asia and in Australia, is something that people will be looking for.”
Bid organizers said that Australia won’t follow Japan in withdrawing from the race to host the 2018 soccer World Cup to focus on securing the 2022 competition.
“We’re certainly not withdrawing,” Football Federation Australia Chief Executive Officer Ben Buckley said in an interview. “The next six months is about convincing the FIFA world that Australia is a country that can be entrusted with the jewel in the crown.”
Buckley said Australia is the natural choice to stage the four-yearly championship because, after this year’s tournament in South Africa, Oceania will be the only region not to have hosted the World Cup. It would also be convenient for an Asian market led by India and China, the two most populous countries.
The Australian government is contributing AUS$45.6 million toward the World Cup bid, which proposes playing matches in 10 cities. Three new stadiums will be built in Perth, Canberra and western Sydney and nine others upgraded, providing an AUS$2.8 billion infrastructure legacy.
FIFA will announce the hosts for both tournaments in December. Australia and the U.S. are competing with four bids from Europe for 2018. England, Russia, Spain and Portugal, Belgium and the Netherlands are also going for 2022 along with Japan, South Korea and Qatar. A winning bid requires a minimum of 13 votes from FIFA’s 24-member executive committee.
Football Federation Australia chairman Frank Lowy said that winning the bid to host the World Cup is one of the biggest challenges in sport.
