Australia does not know where it would hold World Cup final

By Duncan Mackay
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year

May 5 – Australia still does not know where it will hold the World Cup final if they are awarded the tournament in 2018 or 2022, they admitted today as the uncertainty over whether the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) will be included as part of its bid continued.

Ben Buckley, the chief executive of Football Federation Australia (FFA), claimed no decision had been made on the venue for the final despite the fact that the nine nations bidding for the World Cup have to submit their bid books to FIFA next week.

But, under FIFA rules, the capacity of the stadium due to host the final must be at least 80,000, a criteria only arenas in Australia meet.

They are the ANZ Stadium, which was the centrepiece when Sydney hosted the Olympics in 2000, and the MCG.

Buckley told The Australian: ”All I can say is that we haven’t determined the venue yet.

“But what I can say about all the venues that will be in the bid, without naming them, is that the World Cup will leave all sports with strong legacies with either near-new stadiums or greatly upgraded ones.”

Negotiations are ongoing to find a solution so that the MCG can be included among the 12 venues that Australia is expected to submit in its bid book, which is due to be delivered to FIFA’s headquarters in Zurich on May 14.

The bid book is expected to include new stadiums in Sydney’s west at Campbelltown and in Canberra along with existing grounds in Perth (at Subiaco Oval), Adelaide Oval, Geelong (Skilled Stadium), the Gold Coast Stadium, Newcastle, Townsville, the Sydney Football Stadium, and Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium, which will all require substantial multi-million-dollar facelifts.

Another uncertainty over Australia’s bid is the continuing row involving the country’s other football codes, particularly the Australian Football League.

Buckley told The Australian: ”Some issues need to be worked through, but we are very close with the financial compensation formula for the AFL, rugby league and rugby union.

“We always recognised there would be displacement and that all the codes will be no worse off financially.”

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