World Cup 2022 Bid [merged]

[Stripes]

Has the AFL got anything to fear from bringing the world cup to Australia? Is the benefits to the country as a whole worth the impact it will have on our game?

Is this a storm in a teacup or a genuine threat?

Stripes

[WilliamPowell]

Has the AFL got anything to fear from bringing the world cup to Australia? Is the benefits to the country as a whole worth the impact it will have on our game?

Is this a storm in a teacup or a genuine threat?

Stripes

I don't think the AFL has anything to fear after what's been reported in today's media. For one of the very few times in my life I actually agree with Andy D.

If the reported demands of FIFA are true then I actually see there being a negative impact on soccer rather than the AFL.

The whole idea of supposedly "competing" football codes having to either shut down or have games moved to various outposts around the country as to not impinge on the World Cup is nothing short of disgraceful. I think we deserve the right to chose which sport we go and watch not have it dictated to by some sporting body.

I mean re-configuring the MCG at the taxpayers expense? Er NO thanks

BTW there was a very interesting article in one of the weekend papers about the new white elephant stadium in South Africa that FIFA demanded be built that will have no purpose after the World Cup.

[Ramps]

The AFL needs to be mighty careful. The World Cup will provide a massive boost to soccer. The major damage will occur in junior development. If I was in the AFL I would be hoping Australia fails to win this event.

[WilliamPowell]

The AFL needs to be mighty careful. The World Cup will provide a massive boost to soccer. The major damage will occur in junior development. If I was in the AFL I would be hoping Australia fails to win this event.

I don't think it matters Ramps - AFL footy is the most popular code in this country followed by the NRL - the numbers show that. Soccer faces a backlash if tries to push traditional codes aside for the World Cup

Personally I don't think we have a hope of getting the thing. But if by some miracle we do it shouldn't be at the expense of me being able to enjoy a normal season of the game that I think is the best in world 

[Stripes]

I can see the benefits to the country as a whole. The increase in overseas visitors all of who will pour money into the local economy will be huge...but at what cost? I would like to know the figures too - how much do we have to spend to even get it here? What is the impact on our sport logistically and financially? What is the ramifications we can expect on our competition as a whole?

I think the AFL would be insane not to go out of their way to fight this. It will have no positives on the competition what-so-ever.

Stripes  

[Stripes]

The AFL needs to be mighty careful. The World Cup will provide a massive boost to soccer. The major damage will occur in junior development. If I was in the AFL I would be hoping Australia fails to win this event.

I don't think it matters Ramps - AFL footy is the most popular code in this country followed by the NRL - the numbers show that. Soccer faces a backlash if tries to push traditional codes aside for the World Cup

Personally I don't think we have a hope of getting the thing. But if by some miracle we do it shouldn't be at the expense of me being able to enjoy a normal season of the game that I think is the best in world 

The compensation the government/FIFA would have to pay the AFL and NRL would be tens to hundreds of millions. Perhaps this is why AD is ranting so much at the moment. Regardless if Australia wins the bid or not all this media attention is good either way.

Stripes

[mightytiges]

Rugby Union/League is played on a square pitch like soccer so it won't be as difficult logistically on the stadiums its the so called rectangularsation of the stadia from AFL that FIFA and the FFA will alledge will be the most difficult.

I can understand why they want the grounds clear leading into the World Cup so the playing surface is in its best condition and not chopped up but I'm not sure why it's a big deal to FIFA and the FFA if the stadia in Australia are rectangular or oval. We've hosted World Cup qualifiers at the MCG before without any pitch issues. In Germany, the Olympiastadion in Berlin which hosted the final in 2006 had an athletics track around the pitch so fans were a distance from the actual playing pitch. The Maracana in Rio which will host the 2014 final is also oval. The MCG being oval doesn't affect the atmosphere at a soccer international. It didn't in the ill-fated Iran game back in 1997.

[Francois Jackson]

you are kidding yourself arent' you?

the amount of money that this would bring to our country would be unbelievable. If it means we re configure the MCG then so be it. AFL should back the stuff off and let the country reap the rewards of the exposure of our great country will have on the rest of the world.

Whatever Tiger brought to Melbourne you can times it by 100 as would be the financial benefit a World Cup would bring to our country. HUGE!!!

ooh and Soccer is the best game in the world just not in this country through our eyes.

We may actually learn a thing or 2 of seeing how a real world tournament is conducted as opposed to a Grand Final day led by the singing treats of Delta Goodrem and all the other duds they scramble together for the last day in September.

I bet if we do get the World Cup most of you lot would be there jumping up and down in support so cool the jets on the "im opposed to the world cup" crap your spinning now

[WilliamPowell]

you are kidding yourself arent' you?

the amount of money that this would bring to our country would be unbelievable. If it means we re configure the MCG then so be it. AFL should back the eff off and let the country reap the rewards of the exposure of our great country will have on the rest of the world.

daniel, are you aware that the money generated from tickets sales at the World Cup would not come back to Australia but it goes to FIFA? Another of their "conditions"... There is alot of $$ we wont get

If you think that is acceptable for tax payers to foot the bill to re-configure the MCG (est $130mil) after we the taxpapyer are paying for the bulk of this bid when we have a public health system in a shambles, aging defence force equipment and people on the pension who paid taxes all their lives but are now barely able to survive then good on you

Personally, I think the money could be better spent on things that will ensure we remain the greatest country in the world 

[Ramps]

I think wed be better of spending hundreds of millions of dollars fixing up healthcare services in Australia.

[mightytiges]

Going by 3aw and SEN tonight the FFA, AFL and NRL are finally going to sit down and talk things through properly. Seems this talk about FIFA shutting down the AFL season for 8 weeks is nonsense as is the need to reconfigure the MCG. If only the FFA said that all along  . According to reports now the AFL will have a 2 week break when the World Cup reaches the knockout stages around the semi-finals and final and major stadia that will no longer be needed for the WC (most likely outside Sydney and Melbourne) will be able to be used by the AFL again.

As far as soccer taking over - well going by the USA holding a World Cup has minimal long-term impact on other major sports in the country. The NFL is bigger than ever 15 years later. The World Cup is a once in a lifetime event and may give the A-league a short-term boost again but once all the fanfare and razzamattaz has died down afterwards AFL will dominate once again and soccer will take a back seat as a niche spectator sport.

[Hellenic Tiger]

Soccer is not in the fabric of the Australian sporting culture as is AFL cricket or tennis.
Although the Socceroos are enjoying a huge amount of support and are providing the general public with a small sense of pride making the world cup for a second successive time, the game at the domestic level is lagging far far behind and Australia's no 1 status in Asia is due to the overseas based players getting us there rather than programs or players from the A League level.

Furthermore many of these new found soccer converts are hard core rugby union, league or AFL fans and whilst the going is good with the national team I guess the immediate interest will be there. This was evident in Germany in 2006 where there were more Wallaby tops than Socceroo guernseys on show from these new so called fans.

A World Cup won't harm the sport and will provide a great deal of cash for the economy. However it may not generate enough interest to cause a boom in the sport once the world cup is over. The example is the US where after so many years after the inception of MLS after they had held the world cup in 1994 the crowds are dwindling despite the inception of the new team from Seattle. Private ownership is keeping the clubs afloat as is the huge TV market there but the fact still remains the teams are playing in stadia less than half full.

Just look at the issues it is causing to NRL AND AFL the proposal of having the WC here in 2018/2022. Soccer may be the World Game but our geographical location in the Southern Hemisphere where the sport will be held in winter not Summer as well the compensation and uproar the sporting fabric of this country will have to endure to stage the event will cause problems although not insurmountable but definentely hugely problematic. The Olympics in 2000 brought the start of the season forward by 3 weeks but it still was a 22 week season with 4 weeks of finals and the Commonweath games of 2006 saw that there was no matches at the G till about round 3 or 4 in 2006. Hey in 2000 when Colonial Stadium opened a few games were switched to the G due to the surface being less than acceptable. Hardly a problem for a few weeks.

Personally I think the WC will be great in terms of tourism and money for Oz and the fact that Oz has held major sporting events before with great success bode well. FIFA also want to promote the game worldwide in areas it has traditionally struggled like in SA next year and by staging it here they at least put a foot in the door in the sporting landscape of this country. I think it will be held here in 2022 and all these problems will be real some day, however Soccer will never ever be fully accepted and will always be AFL's and NRL'S as well as crickets poorer less popular cousin who will only attract attention every WC qualification campaign and every WC. No matter how much money FIFA the Oz Government or TV sponsors or the FFA put into it sport at the grass roots level and at the club level will never prosper. The crowds are testament to this. More interest in the Socceroos than watching the A League in Northern NSW or FNQ.

[Francois Jackson]

I think wed be better of spending hundreds of millions of dollars fixing up healthcare services in Australia.

same can be said for Tiger Woods coming down under, Comm games etc etc so that argument dont wash with me. The cost to bring Tiger cost 3mil, but resulted in what a 20million dollar windful for the state. As a taxpayer i am more than happy with that return.

The Cup would mean more kids playing the sport and keeping active instead of hitting the streets and i am happy with that.

The fact is with the money such a tournament brings we will have more surplus money to use on things like the Health system, roads, education etc etc

the afl are fools if they are scared Soccer will take over this country. Not a chance in hell but it is the world game and we must embrace it

[WilliamPowell]

The fact is with the money such a tournament brings we will have more surplus money to use on things like the Health system, roads, education etc etc

Sorry daniel I see this comment as being flawed. Money raised from tourism is not going to create the 100's of millions of dollars that this bid is going to cost. The only way that the government gets "surplus" money is via taxes and it is highly doubtful that the tax revenue would generate as much as the government is spending.

Did the State Govt get one cent back from what they directly contributed in Tiger's fee? No -0 they get excited because it generates $$$ for the economy but those $$$ didn't and don't come directly for the sporting event itself.

As I said in a previous post - we host the World Cup and FIFA get the $$$ (or the vast majority) from ticket sales. How can that be could for the economy when we don't get the cream but we fork out the $$$ to satisfy ridiculous demands made by FIFA

[Stripes]

daniel - your assertion that Soccer will take over the country and we should sit back and allow this because we would learn from the game and reap untold rewards is hard to swallow. Surely you can see that unless Soccer absorbs all of the youth of Australia, weekly fills the stadiums and then is taken up by free to air TV it will remain a second tier sport to AFL and NRL regardless of a short flurry of interest a World Cup may bring.

Cultural change is the hardest shift to create (as we can see by the millions the AFL have and are about to spend on lifting the crowds to footy games in Sydney and Queensland). To leap frog AFL Soccer would need to not only markedly increase in popularity in general but also hope that the AFL implode, much like what league did to a certain degree with Superleague.

For all the benefits this may bring to the economy, if this hurts the AFL or especially my beloved Tigers in any way, then I'm against it.

Stripes