By Mark Baber
March 11 – Influential Australian think-tank, the Lowy Institute, has published a new report examining how football diplomacy around the 2015 Asian Cup will provide opportunities for government, business and community groups to strengthen their engagement with Asia.
In 2015 Australia will host the AFC’s Asian Cup, bringing together the top 16 national teams in Asia. In order to understand and leverage the opportunities for government, business and community groups arising from the tournament, the Lowy Institute and the Asian Cup Local Organising Committee held a conference in November 2012, bringing together senior government, business, tourism, sport and community representatives.
Drawing on the ideas generated at the conference, a new report, ‘Football Diplomacy Redux’ outlines how key stakeholders can use the Asian Cup to strengthen Australia’s ties with Asia.
The report defines football diplomacy saying, ‘At its simplest level, football diplomacy is the use of a common interest in football to create networks.’
The report argues that ‘… creating a vehicle for coordination and cooperation should leave a legacy of its own by ensuring that Australia’s football diplomacy with Asia does not end with the Asian Cup in 2015: it begins with it.’
Key findings of the 12 page report include the need for a Football Asia Council to streamline planning for the Asian Cup and to oversee the creation of a digital hub as a one-stop-shop for information about both the Asian Cup and the various football diplomacy networking opportunities around it, along with an associated social media platform, as well as targeted support to groups planning football diplomacy activities around the Asian Cup.
The report quotes the Australia’s AFC Asian Cup 2015 Local Organising Committee (LOC) as expecting the Asian Cup 2015 to attract some 45,000 visitors and have a potential television reach of 2.5 billion viewers. These figures are, of course, largely dependent on China qualifying.
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