sportsbarPolitics is a dangerous game... Sport is no different - The dramatic push for the World Cup
February 26th 2008 23:48
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is making a lot of head-waves… It seems someone has told him that he only has months to live and he is determined to get as many things done as he possibly can… in the shortest timeframe as well.
He is racking up more notches on his belt than Clint Eastwood and Jabba the Hut combined..
The latest deluge is a play at the 2018 Soccer World Cup… Whether or not he seriously believes we can get it is one thing… But the other sports must be wondering – what about us?
Rugby Union was stripped of millions of dollars of funding this year…
Rugby League was also stripped of 10 million dollars – despite it be the game’s Centenary year- Traditionally governments recognise this significant achievement – especially when the game has given so much back to the community and continues to do so..
Funding has always been there to support a milestone for sport - why shouldn't league be recognised an honored?
But no, this was thrown on the scrapheap.
But wait – what do we have here? Rudd wants the World Cup and he is prepared to fund the bid as well!
Now, I love soccer, and there is nothing more than I would love than to see the biggest sporting event in the world on these shores.. It would be massive. Believe me it is as big as the Olympics… We might not totally understand that here, but it is considered almost on par in every other country… To have the Cup here would be the Ultimate.
But how can you justify taking away funding for a Rugby Academy and Rugby League – who a celebrating a great milestone if you are going to throw money at a soccer event which is over a decade away?
The problem with this audacious claim to “Steal the World Cup” is the timing of it… Is this a cheap publicity stunt (or an extremely expensive one…) or a serious tilt at one of sports biggest events.
The problem:
South Africa has the next World Cup followed by Brazil in 2014 – that’s 8 years without Europe holding the premier event…
So what chance does Australia have of getting the World Cup in 2018… Realistically there is no way we can compete. We are in a different time zone which means tv rights can not be sold for as much as if it were in Europe. This is a major problem!
One feels that Europe will flex its considerable muscle and demand that the World Cup is held on local shores… Can you imagine Europe going without a World Cup for 16 years? Thats what would happen if Australia won the rights in 2018.... FORGET ABOUT IT!
It would be more realistic to vouch for a 2022 berth.. More financially viable to.
The best bet would be to support an English bid for the cup or similar nation and then get them to return the favour for the following 4 year cycle.
But what about the other codes? How and why should they back the bid effort? It can only cost them money and it will undoubtedly promote a rival code…
It takes 5 weeks out of Winter which means their competitions will be directly effected and either they will have to postpone there competitions – Unlikely – or they will have to play games in alternate venues as all the major ones in this country will be taken…
Politics is a very tedious thing, a risky thing….
Whilst I would love to see the soccer World Cup here, I don’t thing we should be wasting our money just yet, 2018 is fools gold, a blind obsession… We would be biting off more than we could chew and there is no way we could compete with Europe for a 2018 bid…
Unless we cut all funding – for everything…. In a bold “all-in”, risk it all gamble
Watch this with interest...
He is racking up more notches on his belt than Clint Eastwood and Jabba the Hut combined..
The latest deluge is a play at the 2018 Soccer World Cup… Whether or not he seriously believes we can get it is one thing… But the other sports must be wondering – what about us?
Rugby Union was stripped of millions of dollars of funding this year…
Rugby League was also stripped of 10 million dollars – despite it be the game’s Centenary year- Traditionally governments recognise this significant achievement – especially when the game has given so much back to the community and continues to do so..
Funding has always been there to support a milestone for sport - why shouldn't league be recognised an honored?
But no, this was thrown on the scrapheap.
But wait – what do we have here? Rudd wants the World Cup and he is prepared to fund the bid as well!
Now, I love soccer, and there is nothing more than I would love than to see the biggest sporting event in the world on these shores.. It would be massive. Believe me it is as big as the Olympics… We might not totally understand that here, but it is considered almost on par in every other country… To have the Cup here would be the Ultimate.
But how can you justify taking away funding for a Rugby Academy and Rugby League – who a celebrating a great milestone if you are going to throw money at a soccer event which is over a decade away?
The problem with this audacious claim to “Steal the World Cup” is the timing of it… Is this a cheap publicity stunt (or an extremely expensive one…) or a serious tilt at one of sports biggest events.
The problem:
South Africa has the next World Cup followed by Brazil in 2014 – that’s 8 years without Europe holding the premier event…
So what chance does Australia have of getting the World Cup in 2018… Realistically there is no way we can compete. We are in a different time zone which means tv rights can not be sold for as much as if it were in Europe. This is a major problem!
One feels that Europe will flex its considerable muscle and demand that the World Cup is held on local shores… Can you imagine Europe going without a World Cup for 16 years? Thats what would happen if Australia won the rights in 2018.... FORGET ABOUT IT!
It would be more realistic to vouch for a 2022 berth.. More financially viable to.
The best bet would be to support an English bid for the cup or similar nation and then get them to return the favour for the following 4 year cycle.
But what about the other codes? How and why should they back the bid effort? It can only cost them money and it will undoubtedly promote a rival code…
It takes 5 weeks out of Winter which means their competitions will be directly effected and either they will have to postpone there competitions – Unlikely – or they will have to play games in alternate venues as all the major ones in this country will be taken…
Politics is a very tedious thing, a risky thing….
Whilst I would love to see the soccer World Cup here, I don’t thing we should be wasting our money just yet, 2018 is fools gold, a blind obsession… We would be biting off more than we could chew and there is no way we could compete with Europe for a 2018 bid…
Unless we cut all funding – for everything…. In a bold “all-in”, risk it all gamble
Watch this with interest...
| 56 |
| Vote |
Add To: 
Subscribe to this blog
