The Sportswashing mega thread.

[Zidane98]

We'll get the 2026 women's Asian Cup & 2029 club world cup instead which is a good result.

 

[Bojan KantKick]

Australia decided against bidding for the 2034 World Cup. So Saudi Arabia get it uncontested.

Funny how these things happen

 

[Zidane98]

Of course the other possibility is AFC is split into East & West with East absorbing Oceania.

That'll screw the human rights abusers in the ME as the balance of football power is definitely in East Asia.

 

[Bojan KantKick]

 

[Jatz]

Personally don’t think it would matter which stars the A League acquired, the crowds wouldn’t be sustained at the sell out level for a season.

The nation gets behind them for a tournament but there’s just not enough interest in the game to sell it out across the length of a season.

 

[peetoo]

Soccer in traditional countries is tribal, as afl is here.

Some soccer supporters know their team will never win anything, but they still support

 

[Zidane98]

Personally don’t think it would matter which stars the A League acquired, the crowds wouldn’t be sustained at the sell out level for a season.

The nation gets behind them for a tournament but there’s just not enough interest in the game to sell it out across the length of a season.

There definitely is mate, the game is huge in Australia. Give us the equivalent of Saudi league players and crowds would be up around the 20k average mark across the whole league.

 

[Zidane98]

lol

 

[Jatz]

There definitely is mate, the game is huge in Australia. Give us the equivalent of Saudi league players and crowds would be up around the 20k average mark across the whole league.

Averaging 20k isn't close to selling out the majority of stadiums in this country.

 

[Zidane98]

Averaging 20k isn't close to selling out the majority of stadiums in this country.

If we had the English Premier League equivalent in Australia we would sell out all stadiums every week.

 

[Elmer_Hauser]

If we had the English Premier League equivalent in Australia we would sell out all stadiums every week.

That is never going to happen though. We haven't got the stadiums or infrastructure, and even if we did, the prices for games would be too high/obscene for the average fan to afford.

Appreciate your sentiment and passion for football, just seems like a very unlikely pipe dream (least in our lifetime)

 

[Jatz]

If we had the English Premier League equivalent in Australia we would sell out all stadiums every week.

Wtf are we even discussing here?

Now we're just making absurd hypotheticals that will clearly never happen.

Football in this country won't ever be ultra successful at a domestic level. There are too many other sports ingrained in the culture that it's competing with.

 

[Zidane98]

That is never going to happen though. We haven't got the stadiums or infrastructure, and even if we did, the prices for games would be too high/obscene for the average fan to afford.

Appreciate your sentiment and passion for football, just seems like a very unlikely pipe dream (least in our lifetime)

Obviously talking in hypothetical terms there as that isn't going to happen but the potential of the game in this country is absolutely huge.


A more realistic goal is a championship level competition with crowds of around 20k on average. That would be a huge success in itself.

 

[RPCB]

If we had the English Premier League equivalent in Australia we would sell out all stadiums every week.

 

[FreoRicci]

Incredible that England have not hosted the World Cup since 1966.
Germany, Brazil, Italy, France have since hosted the World Cup twice.

Ridiculous

 

[FreoRicci]

lol

The worst country score in Human Rights metrics, the better their chances then?
Applies to Russia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia.

Great metric to follow

 

[FreoRicci]

So are nearly all the players heading to the Saudi league.

Yet teams play in front of crowds of a few thousand and ticket prices are dirt cheap too in Saudi.

There just isn't a sporting culture over there and no amount of money wasted on the game will change that. It's a very bad thing that the game is totally reliant on the government funding the leagues.

If Ronaldo signed for Victory crowds would easily fill Marvel regularly. That's the difference. Australian football fans turn up in big numbers when stars come.

There isn’t a culture.
Saudi Arabia is a just a paid refugee camp to nationalised the population. Hence the majority of African descent players in the national team

 

[Zidane98]

 

[FreoRicci]

Did AFC threaten AustraLia to withdraw?
Australia would’ve won the bid 9 times out of 10

 

[Zidane98]

Did AFC threaten AustraLia to withdraw?
Australia would’ve won the bid 9 times out of 10

Saudis provably paid us off in exchange for them getting 2034 & us getting CWC 2029 / Women's Asian Cup 2026.

If it went to a FIFA Congress vote they were likely to lose. UEFA don't need Saudi money and won't accept a winter WC.

This way they have no choice but to accept a winter tournament.

 

[Frank Bunn]

Incredible that England have not hosted the World Cup since 1966.
Germany, Brazil, Italy, France have since hosted the World Cup twice.

Ridiculous

Add USA in 2026 and Spain in 2030 to the list that will have hosted the WC twice.

While England, the home of the game, and has the most popular league in the world has only hosted it once - the same number as Qatar and Saudi Arabia by 2034.

 

[Zidane98]

Sportswashed.

 

[Bostonian]

Sportswashed.

Gool ole Beheadie Howe.

Loyal to the last dollar.

 

[RPCB]

The worst country score in Human Rights metrics, the better their chances then?
Applies to Russia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia.

Great metric to follow

Mexico will have hosted the World Cup three times by 2026.

 

[Zidane98]

Add USA in 2026 and Spain in 2030 to the list that will have hosted the WC twice.

While England, the home of the game, and has the most popular league in the world has only hosted it once - the same number as Qatar and Saudi Arabia by 2034.

UEFA will very like host 2042 (2030 hosting excludes 2034/2038 bids). CONEMBOL would be eligible but they seem happy to take money in exchange for not hosting. That will surely be England / Scotland / Wales hosting. The tournament is too big for one nation and the only other alternative would be France / Italy and I don't see those two putting an effective bid together.


Interesting on 2038 bidding with CAF/AFC/UEFA/CONEMBOL all out of the picture for bidding (FIFA rules stipulate hosting excludes bidding from the next two tournaments).


Leaves only Oceania & CONCACAF bidding for 2038. Can't imagine there are any other alternatives to USA/Canada/Mexico in CONCACAF who could bid so it would probably be them bidding again for another tournament just 12 years after they hosted in 2026.