Australia's bid for the 2018 or 2022 World Cup

[marinermick]

i think from memory casey wehrman had a shocker

they all did

blanco was coach wasn't he?

enough said

 

[serious14]

I was lucky, that in my volunteer capacity at the games, I was the press tribune supervisor for the football at the SFS and Olympic Stadium.

I got the best seats in the house and watched all the football games from the press area as the press didn't have any needs during matches.

The women's final was also a cracker.

No, in that respect, you were a c*nt. 

You know how hot it was that day of the final??  Of course not, you were no doubt inside _roasting_ under some air conditioning......

 

[marinermick]

I was lucky, that in my volunteer capacity at the games, I was the press tribune supervisor for the football at the SFS and Olympic Stadium.

I got the best seats in the house and watched all the football games from the press area as the press didn't have any needs during matches.

The women's final was also a cracker.

No, in that respect, you were a c*nt. 

You know how hot it was that day of the final??   Of course not, you were no doubt inside _roasting_ under some air conditioning......

nah, press was outside and radio inside

i was outside, and yes it was hot

 

[northernspirit]

did u take any marshmallows for the cauldron serious?

 

[marinermick]

good team lineup v honduras and should have done better:

Danny Milosevic, Simon Colosimo (Marco Bresciano 46), Stan Lazaridis, Hayden Foxe, Josip Skoko, Stephen Laybutt, Lucas Neill, Mark Viduka, Kasey Wehrman (Clayton Zane 79), Vince Grella (Jason Culina 30), Michael Curcija

 

[serious14]

did u take any marshmallows for the cauldron serious?

Om nom nom nom.......

I think I got sunburnt from the flame, let alone the sun. 

 

[northernspirit]

did u take any marshmallows for the cauldron serious?

Om nom nom nom.......

I think I got sunburnt from the flame, let alone the sun. 

haha yeah same here
remember how much coke cost? was like $5 a bottle but it was so farkn hot u had no choice

 

[serious14]

did u take any marshmallows for the cauldron serious?

Om nom nom nom.......

I think I got sunburnt from the flame, let alone the sun. 

haha yeah same here
remember how much coke cost? was like $5 a bottle but it was so farkn hot u had no choice

Exact same bottle at the football in Beijing cost $1.20......

 

[midfielder]

http://www.smh.com.au/news/sport/football/regional-arm-wrestle-not-the-sideshow-world-cup-bid-needs/2009/02/05/1233423405929.html?page=2

SO MUCH for one Asian bid. Yet it's not the multiple bids, but the growing tension surrounding the future of Asian Football Confederation president Mohammed Bin Hammam, which threatens to overshadow Australia's lobbying efforts for the 2018 World Cup.

Read on if you want ... 2 pages in link

 

[dibo]

try this one.

actually, i'll just c+p it...

Regional arm wrestle not the sideshow World Cup bid needs

Michael Cockerill
February 6, 2009

Other related coverage

    * New bid headache as Asia boss backflips
    * Cup candidates jostle for position

SO MUCH for one Asian bid. Yet it's not the multiple bids, but the growing tension surrounding the future of Asian Football Confederation president Mohammed Bin Hammam, which threatens to overshadow Australia's lobbying efforts for the 2018 World Cup.

When acceptances closed at FIFA headquarters in Zurich early this week, Australia was joined by Japan, South Korea, Qatar and Indonesia as Asian bidders for the 2018, and perhaps 2022, World Cups. China's decision not to enter the race was an unexpected consolation. But if getting FIFA to agree to a third successive southern hemisphere tournament isn't hard enough, having five bids from one confederation only complicates matters, on the surface at least. Whether these bids progress from the expression of interest stage remains to be seen, but Bin Hammam - predictably - has preferred to accentuate the positives, saying: "It's good to see so many countries from Asia coming forward these expressions of interest underscore the confidence of Asian nations and their love for the game. Ideally, AFC would have liked one bid with support from the others, but we can live with multiple bids."

There is, of course, the chance some nations will drop out of the race between now and December, when the bid process becomes binding. South Korea and Japan are both fantastic candidates, but they co-hosted Asia's only previous World Cup. Indonesia, with its decaying stadiums and straining infrastructure, has to be a long shot, at least for 2018. And Qatar may, ironically, suffer as much from its affinity with Bin Hammam than the fact the country, in effect, comprises one metropolis of downtown Doha and a few satellite towns. That's not to forget that every stadium will need to be air-conditioned, or built underground, if the players are to survive the 50 degree-plus heat.

Which leaves Australia very much in contention. Some bookmakers have installed Australia as second favourites for 2018 behind England in what, at the moment, is an 11-horse race. But it's how the geopolitics of Asia play out in coming months that could ultimately determine Australia's hopes. FIFA won't make the final decision until December next year, but the festering issue of whether Bin Hammam will still be on the 24-man FIFA executive by then could be crucial.

It is Bin Hammam who overcame huge opposition - particularly in the Middle East - to pave the way for Australia's surprise switch from Oceania to Asia in 2006. Since then the Qatari has been a strong and consistent ally, and his relationship with Frank Lowy is genuine and warm. Australia would much rather get through the bid process with Bin Hammam at the helm, rather than deal with a shifting political landscape. Ben Buckley and his team might not get the chance.

Simmering tension between Bin Hammam and South Korea's Chung Mong-joon, who is also a FIFA vice-president, erupted into open warfare this week in the form of a challenge for Bin Hammam's place on the FIFA executive - the first time he has been challenged since 1996. Chung has prodded Bahraini Shaikh Salman Ebrahim Al Khalifa to contest Bin Hammam's seat at the big table in Zurich, and the AFC president has responded by foreshadowing constitutional changes designed to scuttle a challenge before it gains momentum.

A lightning rod for dissent has been Bin Hammam's push to shift the AFC headquarters from its traditional home in Kuala Lumpur closer to his own home, in Dubai. Disaffected former AFC general secretary Peter Velappan, clearly with Chung's backing, has become the spokesman for the putsch, telling Malaysia's New Straits Times this week: "Both the [constitutional] changes are designed to keep him [Bin Hammam] in power. It is an attempt to consolidate his position as a dictator West Asia except Qatar opposes Bin Hammam. The Arabs reject him. China, South Korea and Malaysia are totally against the Qatari. Members are fed up with his behaviour."

If Bin Hammam is defeated at the AFC Congress in May, it could be a potentially fatal blow to his ambitions, even though he will remain as AFC president until 2011. Australia, sensibly, is staying out of the firing line, desperate to avoid any collateral damage. As the World Cup bid gears up, this is a complication the FFA could do without.

 

[ryan]

Serious, I watched a taped copy of the game that I have. I was in the very top row sitting just right of the Olympic flame. The worst seats in the place to watch a game but I only had to turn my head slightly to the left to realise the historic significance of the moment.

 

[midfielder]

http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/a-league/ffa-announces-bid-team-174137/

FFA announces Bid Team
25 February 2009 | 15:32 - FFA

Football Federation Australia (FFA) has made a number of significant announcements concerning its Bid Team as it seeks to win the right to host the FIFA World Cup in 2018 or 2022.

"There is no doubt that the FIFA World Cup is the biggest sporting event on the planet," said FFA chief executive Ben Buckley.

"While we have had a small but dedicated team working on our bid for the past 18 months compiling infrastructure audits, economic impact analysis and working with Federal and State governments on preliminary planning, we now have a timetable to meet for the Bid and a need to establish a fully operational Bid Team.

"Our aim has always been to assemble a separate business unit within FFA with the best possible team of individuals with relevant experience and expertise supported by some of Australia's, and the world's, best consulting agencies."

Under the Bid Process conducted by FIFA, a bidding member association has the option of establishing a separate Bid Committee with its own legal entity or a business unit within the member association.

The FFA Board has opted to integrate the Bid Team and the Bid process into the everyday business of FFA to ensure that all stakeholders in the football community are fully united behind it, with the FIFA World Cup Bid Team to be chaired by FFA Chairman, Frank Lowy and led by FFA CEO Ben Buckley.

"This will ensure that the ongoing and important work of FFA, which has an impact on the Bid, is coordinated and strategically aligned with the Bid itself," Buckley said.

He also announced that two key FFA executives will immediately move full-time into the Bid Team to manage the project.

Stuart Taggart, Head of Major Events, will project manage FFA Bid operations and will have responsibility for technical aspects of the Bid including infrastructure planning, stadia and host city logistics, finance and project management.

Bonita Mersiades, Head of Corporate and Public Affairs, will be responsible for domestic and international communications, marketing, government relations, corporate social responsibility and stakeholder and community relations.

The FFA Bid Team will grow over the next two months to between 12-15 full time staff to include additional resources covering the areas of legal services, finance, infrastructure and operations, marketing and communications and community relations. Some staff will be internal FFA appointees who have the relevant experience and expertise in bid activities and event management and others will be recruited externally along with the backfilling of existing internal positions.

As a consequence of the timetable for bidding for the 2015 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup Buckley also named another senior staffing appointment with current Head of A-League Operations, Rob Abernethy, to head up the team for the 2015 AFC Asian Cup Bid.

Rob has done an outstanding job as part of the FFA team that has grown the Hyundai A-League to the position it has reached today. He has been instrumental in its success during the foundation years.

Rob has a proven track record in event management having worked previously on the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, the 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games and 2003 Rugby World Cup and his work recently on the Hyundai A-League and the AFC Champions League means he is uniquely placed to lead our efforts in securing and managing the 2015 AFC Asia Cup.

Buckley also said that, given his own leadership position required on the FFA World Cup Bid Team, that there was a need to appoint a senior leader of the Hyundai A-League.

The position will continue to report to Buckley.

Growth and expansion of the Hyundai A-League is critical to the growth of football in Australia and is an absolute priority for FFA, Buckley said.

With that in mind, I am delighted to announce that we have appointed Archie Fraser to become the new Head of the Hyundai A-League.

Fraser is a former professional football player in Scotland and Queensland Premier League player in Australia.

Archie has not only played the game to a high level, hes also a professional sports administrator and he has a first class commercial and strategic background. Although he has worked in AFL for the past several years, he is the first to acknowledge that his number one sporting passion is, and always has been, football.

Fraser joins FFA from St Kilda Football Club where he has been CEO for the past four years. During that time, Fraser has overseen significant achievements both on and off the field including achieving record growth in membership, revenues and profits, average attendances and working with State and local governments to create a $15million training and administrative headquarters.

Prior to working for St Kilda Football Club Fraser held both CEO and Managing Director positions with international companies including HWI & Cendant Mobility, Adecco and various senior executive positions with Fuji Xerox and Inchcape.

"We very much welcome Archie's appointment," said Buckley.

"I am confident he will be a fantastic addition to our management team and I look forward to his contribution to growing the Hyundai A-League as well as our other domestic competitions."

 

[Part_Timer]

midfielder is back...

 

[Paolo]

i missed him :-[

 

[marinersman]

Lowy and Buckley have handed in our bid to FIFA officially. Interestingly the AAP report says Indonesia and South Korea have already lodged their's, whilst Japan and Qatar are still to submit their application. Will be interesting to see how Asia vote.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/sport/football/ffa-officially-lodges-aussie-world-cup-bid/2009/03/16/1237054726662.html

 

[midfielder]

Good news all round

http://www.theage.com.au/news/sport/soccer/big-stadiums-play-ball-to-host-world-cup/2009/03/26/1237657072854.html

AFTER years having to put up with being treated like second-class citizens with regard to venues, Football Federation Australia has suddenly found the sport being treated like royalty as stadiums clamour to win favour as the bid for the 2018 World Cup heats up.

In particular, ANZ Stadium and the MCG have rolled out the welcome mat for the Socceroos in their 2010 World Cup qualifying matches this year as they battle each other to be the showpiece venue of Australia's bid, which was officially registered with FIFA last week.


........... lots more in article

 

[Jorome Alexander Bennett]

    Australia, England, Indonesia, Japan, Spain/Portugal, Mexico, Russia, Netherlands/Belgium, and the United States. These are the nations that are bidding for 2018. Qatar and South Korea are bidding for 2022 only.

    Japan hosted so recently that I can't see them being considered at all. For the same reason but to lesser extent US and Mexico. Indonesia has had terrorism spoils its public image. I thought I read that FIFA don't want to go for co-hosted bids.
   

            So I see it as Australia vs England, Russia and maybe the co hosters.


We have a real chance to impress with the Asian Cup. If attendance, general safety and, most importantly perhaps, viewing figures are impressive than I think we are a certainty for 2018 or 2022.
    I had been thinking that the confidence that Buckley has been showing recently was false bravado. Now though, I am feeling just as confident as him. I'm booking my tickets!

 

[Arabmariner]

    Australia, England, Indonesia, Japan, Spain/Portugal, Mexico, Russia, Netherlands/Belgium, and the United States. These are the nations that are bidding for 2018. Qatar and South Korea are bidding for 2022 only.

    Japan hosted so recently that I can't see them being considered at all. For the same reason but to lesser extent US and Mexico. Indonesia has had terrorism spoils its public image. I thought I read that FIFA don't want to go for co-hosted bids.
   

            So I see it as Australia vs England, Russia and maybe the co hosters.


We have a real chance to impress with the Asian Cup. If attendance, general safety and, most importantly perhaps, viewing figures are impressive than I think we are a certainty for 2018 or 2022.
    I had been thinking that the confidence that Buckley has been showing recently was false bravado. Now though, I am feeling just as confident as him. I'm booking my tickets!

There's nothing wrong with being optimistic but I think you're being really,really reeeeeeally optimistic there!

What you say does make sense but since when did FIFA do things purely on that basis.And what old Septic Bladder says and does are two completely different things.

I'd love the WC to come down under and I'm sure Australia would make it a huge success.......but FIFA politics.....viewing times in other parts of the world.......12x40,000 plus seater stadiums..........where are we going to put them? They can't all go into 2 or 3 cities and our regional areas are not populated enough to warrant a stadium of that size.

Not to mention our very amateur airport security and security in general.Make no mistake if any terrorist group seriously decides to target this country it'd be a piece of cake.

We do have plenty plus points of course i.e. successfull Olympics,Rugby WC's etc

I just think Buckley and Lowy are going to have to be really,really good at pissing in the right peoples pockets over the next year or two.

If they pull this off we should knight them!!........can we do that??

 

[Jorome Alexander Bennett]

We can't knight them, unfortunately.
Lowy already as an AC.

The questions FIFA may have over our bid will be answered either way when we host the Asian Cup. If 73 people die in an Airport incident, we're stuffed. If Dubbo's low population becomes a real issue than again we are out of the race.

I am being optimistic. But the very fact that our bid can invite optimism is cause for optimism. It is a self-feeding cycle that fosters looking on the bright side.

I had previously seen it as Australia VS the World for hosting rights. But when we break it down, it won't take such a herculean effort to snag one of the two WCs on offer.

 

[Jesus]

We will host the asian cup long after the decision has been made