Bad news for dreamers but a pragmatic FA decision to focus on other tournaments and accept its place in football’s pecking order
Socceroos fans will have to wait to find out when Australia will next host an international tournament after the country opted not to bid for the 2034 Men’s World Cup.Socceroos fans will have to wait to find out when Australia will next host an international tournament after the country opted not to bid for the 2034 Men’s World Cup.announced they were out. For football dreamers, it was a devastating blow. The logical ambition after the hosting the Women’s World Cup, extinguished.
Saudi Arabia’s favour within Fifa is obvious. Saudi Football Federation president, Yasser Al Misehal, was elected to the Fifa council in February. The country’s Visit Saudi tourism scheme was a sponsor at last year’s men’s World Cup in Qatar. It was almost a last-minute sponsor of the Women’s World Cup, untilYet even as Saudi Arabia built support for its vision, Football Australia shared an interest in hosting the 2034 men’s tournament.
For a time, FA assessed whether it could lodge an expression of interest by the deadline and bring co-hosts on at a later date. Fifa regulations appeared to allow it during the bidding preparation phase, which will until the middle of next year. But against the growing tide of support for Saudi Arabia, lodging an expression of interest risked raising the ire of continental partners, who may then not have supported Australia’s ambitions for hosting other tournaments.
Rather than spend his time winning over politicians in Zurich, the FA chief executive, James Johnson, believes more can be done to drum up support from local decision-makers. On Monday, the day before public news of the non-bid, Johnson gave a pre-recorded interview on his decision to Sky News. The channel is widely regarded as the most direct avenue to reach Australian politicians.
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