By Duncan Mackay
January 24 – Bonita Mersiades (pictured), a key member of Australia’s campaign to host the 2018 or 2022 World Cup, has quit unexpectedly on the eve of a planned trip to Angola to lobby on behalf of the bid.
Mersiades has left her role as head of corporate affairs at Football Federation Australia (FFA), which included playing a a senior role in the bid strategy, both in terms of dealings with the various Federal Government departments in Australia and also the international lobbying campaign.
Her high-profile role also included being the spokeswoman for FFA and the World Cup bid.
She has left FFA immediately.
No reason has been given for her departure.
Australia’s bid has also recently hit by a row between the rival codes with Australian Rules and rugby league officials concerned that if the World Cup is awarded to the country they will have to abandon their seasons.
Ben Buckley, the chief executive of FFA, confirmed that Mersiades had left the role which she had held since 2007 but claimed her departure would not affect the bid.
He told The Daily Telegraph in Sydney: “It’s business as usual and the bid is firmly on track.
“We have already engaged various people here and overseas to oversee areas of the bid as we move into its next phase.
“For instance we have appointed someone based out of the UK to manage the international events we’ll be doing, given most of that will be outside Australia.”
Mersiades had been due to accompany Buckley this week on a trip to Luanda to attend the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Congress being held in conjunction with the African Cup of Nations.
Mersiades, a former manager of the Australian men’s team, and in 2002 played a key role in persuading billionaire businessman Frank Lowy to return to help the restructuring of football in the country.
She had started her career working with the Federal Government in Canberra where she helped develop Australia’s first national HIV/AIDS strategy and also worked for the Red Cross in Sydney.
Mersiades said: “I no longer work for the FFA.”
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