Will the AFL cooperate with FFA for World Cup bid?

[Alistair]

Australia officially launches its bid for the 2018 FIFA World Cup today. In order to win the event, the FFA will need a lot of support and flexibility from the AFL and NRL. Do you think the AFL will be willing to do what it can to help us stage one of the biggest events i the world, or will they do exactly the opposite to hinder the development of football/soccer in Australia?


LINKS

http://www.theage.com.au/news/soccer/world-cup-bid/2008/02/23/1203467459939.html

http://www.theage.com.au/news/soccer/cup-bid-needs-afl-help-to-fly/2008/02/23/1203467458941.html

 

[wal]

Hinder.

 

[Dont be a lemon]

If the price is right.

 

[Black Panther]

Taxpayers should be more concerned about the $10 million that is going to be wasted on this impossible pipedream

 

[Ron]

Why should they?

I hope they tell FFA to stick it up their arses, they wont be using the G in for the cup.

 

[Dont be a lemon]

I hope they tell FFA to stick it up their arses, they wont be using the G in for the cup.

And so the soccer bashing begins...

 

[Ron]

And so the soccer bashing begins...

How is that bashing?

Give me one reason why the AFL should vacate the G for the soccer?

 

[Hap Hapablap]

if th the afl and nrl are compensated for their monetary losses then yeh its a possibility however its farfetched.

 

[Hollow Knight]

Co-operate with soccer?

"Tell 'em to get ****ed!"

 

[Fire]

Depends on what 'cooperation' entails.

They have no reason to be hostile, but if FFA expects the AFL to ben over backwards for them, then the AFL hsoudl tell them to **** off.

The AFL is run for the benifit of footy, and if they vacate premium venues/re-scedual to a less optimal fixture, then they will be acting outside of their interests.

I dont see what interest the AFL has in doing anything for FFA. They dont have to be hostile, they simply have no interest in this. They woudl need to be compensated heavily at the very least.

EDIT: I just read that they want to suspend the season for 5 weeks. I hope they tell FFA to **** off. There is no reason why they can't run together, and the AFL and NRL shouldn’t be expected to make way the head ponchos of soccer are inflexible.

 

[ManWithNoName]

Suspend the comp for five weeks? Get f---ed. Christ can you imagine if the ICC decided to hold the Cricket WC in the USA and told the NFL they'd have to go on hold for 5 weeks? The country would explode.

 

[GPW1]

as if the afl are gonna help their so called biggest threat.

 

[DarthTed]

There's no chance of the World Cup being held in Australia so it doesn't really matter what the AFL would do

 

[Hap Hapablap]

to suspend the afl and nrl for 5 weeks is basically shooting any chance for the ffa to get any co-operation from the afl and nrl.

 

[SirJimi05]

Why should they?

I hope they tell FFA to stick it up their arses, they wont be using the G in for the cup.

You are refering to the MCC when you talk about 'they' right?

 

[Guido]

Why should they?

It's the world's biggest event, which would put it in "national interest" territory. If the country is lucky enough to get it, it would be the last time it would be held on these shores for 100 years.

I agree that putting the league on hold for 5 weeks is excessive, but at the moment it's media speculation - should wait to hear the AFL's response to see if that is indeed what's required.

Assuming stopping all competition for 5 weeks isn't a prerequisite, IMO if organised properly, a WC can be accomodated without any massive interruption to the AFL. There's a mid-year break during that time of year anyway - extend it to two weeks. If timed correctly, that can cover close to three quarters of the tournament's matches, leaving only a dozen odd knockout games to work around (many of which will fall mid-week anyway).

Most of the league's stadiums won't be affected - SCG, Telstra Dome (possible WC stadium, but Melbourne unlikely to have 2), Geelong, Gabba (Suncorp for Brissy), Gold Coast's ground can all go ahead with matches as planned. "Interstate" home games (Darwin, Canberra, Tassie) can be timed to coincide with the tournament. WA's ground is being built on the premise it will be able to host matches, so likely to be few problems with operators and contracts there. I'd argue that AAMI would be very lucky to be accepted as a host stadium, so assuming Adelaide/Port are still playing there, there's unlikely to be many issues.

I can understand the appeal in footy's admin still flatly refusing to budge even if there wasn't a massive interruption to the league, but there's commercial interest, and then there's commercial interest - for the AFL to be the sole reason behind turning down a once in a lifetime opportunity for the whole country (and the billions it would generate for the economy) because it didn't want to put the league on hold for a couple of weeks and tinkering with the fixture a little ... it would be a massive, massive call, and quite possibly a PR disaster, espcially with people in areas where it's looking to expand and doesn't have a stanglehold on the market yet.

IMO Ben Buckley will have an intimate knowledge of the logistics required re: dealing with other sporting bodies, and wouldn't be going ahead with the bid without being confident that something will be worked out.

 

[Guido]

You are refering to the MCC when you talk about 'they' right?

MCC would welcome the opportunity to host matches, and I'm guessing it would be quite a lucrative proposition for the stadium.

The problem lies more with working a way around the contracts the AFL have with stadiums rather than appeasing the AFL itself. No contracts - no obligation to host AFL matches - no issue. But IIRC it's a 30 year contract with the MCG, which is going to be a problem.

 

[DeadlyAkkuret]

Cue the bogans shouting "**** orf! Fairyball is for ****tas!"

Try to look at the bigger picture, and consider how huge this would be for OUR country, instead of pouting like children and living in your own little bubble. I'm not the biggest "soccer" fan, but I can see how great this would be for Australia, and I'd also love to see some of the greatest sportsmen in the world!

 

[scotty13]

I think if the AFL had brains, they would allow the World Cup to use grounds that they use (during the week)

Then, they would market the game of AFL to all the countries that are participating in the World Cup and encourage the people that live in these other countries to go along and watch a game of AFL on the weekend at the ground they just watched there country play at. If this is done well, then every game for the 5 weeks will be a sellout.

 

[Guus_Hiddink]

I think if the AFL had brains, they would allow the World Cup to use grounds that they use (during the week)

Then, they would market the game of AFL to all the countries that are participating in the World Cup and encourage the people that live in these other countries to go along and watch a game of AFL on the weekend at the ground they just watched there country play at. If this is done well, then every game for the 5 weeks will be a sellout.

You cant play a game of world cup soccer one day, then an AFL game a few days later on the same pitch, infact the surfaces cannot be touched for weeks prior to the tournament.

Do you guys seriously think the Australian government will let the AFL which is a globally insignificant competition stop this nation from hosting the most globally significant competition?

 

[huntos]

I don't think that the AFL or NRL would ever commit to this proposal because it is against the interest of both the leagues, they are there to look out for the interest of there respective sport, not the economic future of Australia - that is the role of the federal government, hence why they are making the bid with the FFA.

With the determination of the AFL to stop Australia's participation such that I could see the AFL buying ANZ stadium to block such a proposal, the only reason why America hosted a FIFA world cup was because they could spare 12 stadiums of sufficient capacity during the NFL season, this is not the case with Australia's traditional sporting leagues.

But besides that point, WA, SA and Vic are the states which need major corresponding infrastructure to allow the FIFA world cup to go ahead and that is not going to happen because no state government will justify the building of major rectangular stadiums when they don't have the backing of corresponding state football leagues. All the stadiums in these states would be the biggest white elephants in the world, 40k soccer stadiums built exclusively for a FIFA world cup wouldn't turn out well in a state election for the government when hospitals few and far between. Having them 25% full for 1/3 of the year would be an even worse prospect for any investor.

Finally spending 30M on a FIFA world cup bid when interest rates and ballooning is not good economic policy, the federal government negligent towards every Australian (yes, not every Australian likes sport) for even considering sounding out there is an ambition for the proposal.

This is all the pipe dream of Frank Lowy, Westfield billionaire, whom wants to see a FIFA world cup in Australia before he is unable to follow the ball and needs to wear a nappy to sit through an entire match. He was selfish enough to raise soccer registration fee's around the country to accumulate sufficient funds to participate in a bid. Blindsided by his own interests he fails to see that England would need to shoot itself in the foot to loose the tournament, Australia would be a giant risk for FIFA after having the tournament in unstable and socially violent countries in the southern hemisphere in the one decade, England is the safe and uber-profitable option and no FIFA executive would bid against it unless they were considering disenfranchising fans where the game was birthed in and placing the tournament in undue risk.

I'm not against the FIFA world cup being played in Australia but we are an infant in the soccer world, FIFA would be insulting the rest of the world by placing the tournament in the hand of Australia. Why do we derserve it over England? Better weather is not a suitable justification.

 

[DarthTed]

the only reason why America hosted a FIFA world cup was because they could spare 12 stadiums of sufficient capacity during the NFL season, this is not the case with Australia's traditional sporting leagues.

But besides that point, WA, SA and Vic are the states which need major corresponding infrastructure to allow the FIFA world cup to go ahead and that is not going to happen because no state government will justify the building of major rectangular stadiums when they don't have the backing of corresponding state football leagues. All the stadiums in these states would be the biggest white elephants in the world, 40k soccer stadiums built exclusively for a FIFA world cup wouldn't turn out well in a state election for the government when hospitals few and far between. Having them 25% full for 1/3 of the year would be an even worse prospect for any investor.

Finally spending 30M on a FIFA world cup bid when interest rates and ballooning is not good economic policy, the federal government negligent towards every Australian (yes, not every Australian likes sport) for even considering sounding out there is an ambition for the proposal.

This is all the pipe dream of Frank Lowy, Westfield billionaire, whom wants to see a FIFA world cup in Australia before he is unable to follow the ball and needs to wear a nappy to sit through an entire match. He was selfish enough to raise soccer registration fee's around the country to accumulate sufficient funds to participate in a bid. Blindsided by his own interests he fails to see that England would need to shoot itself in the foot to loose the tournament, Australia would be a giant risk for FIFA after having the tournament in unstable and socially violent countries in the southern hemisphere in the one decade, England is the safe and uber-profitable option and no FIFA executive would bid against it unless they were considering disenfranchising fans where the game was birthed in and placing the tournament in undue risk.

I'm not against the FIFA world cup being played in Australia but we are an infant in the soccer world, FIFA would be insulting the rest of the world by placing the tournament in the hand of Australia. Why do we derserve it over England? Better weather is not a suitable justification.

The World Cup in the US was in June-July, not NFL season.

But your argument about it being a waste to invest so much money in something that isn't going to happen is spot on.

 

[Qsaint]

Most stadium contracts with the AFL etc have clauses so that World Cups Rugby etc can be played. For anyone who remembers the last rugby world cup here was meant to be in NZ as well but they couldn't offer clean (no advertising) completely empty stadiums, we could so there is probably nothing the AFL/NRL can do.


Anyway thats not the biggest problem you have to have 10 55K stadiums prefferably rectangle ones (Or something like that) we have 1 Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane

Then we only have the olympic stadium in Sydney, Telstra Dome the G and perhaps the new stadium in Perth. So we are a number of stadiums short

 

[redozboy]

Umm, the AFL & NRL will have to co-operate or the government will step in. Heck, they would pass laws if need be.

FIFA requirements are that competing sports must be suspended during the World Cup. The best AFL/NRL can hope for it to have a few 'exhibition' games before hand to promote their sports.

This is not one of the biggest events, it IS the biggest sporting event.

Relatively speaking, people travel for the World Cup, they don't for the Olympics. The tourist dollars is the proverbial mile ahead of what the Olympics provides.
There were approximately 2 million visitors to Germany during the World Cup 2006.

As for the stadiums being white elephants, unfortunately for AFL/NRL Football will be far more popular come 2018 than it is now, thanks to it being at the forefront of the public's mind for around 6 years (if our bid wins). This is also taking account for the Football junior numbers being way ahead of these sports already.
Therefore, you can expect A-League crowd averages to be even higher than what they are now, I reckon 25 to 30K is likely, so stadiums will be generating revenue well after 2018. The salary cap by then will probably be over $5M (if the cap isn't scrapped by then), meaning higher quality imports, therefore higher quality spectacle, resulting in bigger crowds, more revenue, etc, etc

 

[Astro_]

The AFL dont have control over the G. If the FFA/Australian Government want use of the G should they have a successful world cup bid they will get it and fair enough too.

The world cup is much more than two teams of 11 running around the pitch.

The MCC would be stupid to turn down such offer, and there is no doubt the MCC would be looking to host the event. Im sure the AFL would be compensated as part of the bid.

Those AFL meatheads out there get realistic.