Australia NewsACT Play Hardball On WC bid |
EXCLUSIVE: The ACT Government insist they remain interested in being involved in an Australian World Cup bid - but say they will need federal government funding as the deadline for FFA's hosting guarantee to FIFA draws closer.
The FFA must sign a document by December 11 guaranteeing Australia would be able to satisfy the technical requirements for hosting the event in either 2018 or 2022. These include government guarantees about stadiums, safety, security, accommodation and insurance indemnities.
The Council of Australian Governments meeting is held just days before the December 11 deadline with squabbling continuing over which tier of government will fund the necessary infrastructure upgrades.
Under the headline 'ACT Shelves World Cup' a recent newspaper report in Canberra claimed ACT Minister for Sport Andrew Barr was prepared to turn withdraw support for Australia's World Cup bid due to the cost to the ACT tax-payer.
The report said: 'Barr declared his intention to back out of Football Federation Australia's 2018 or 2022 World Cup bids in favour of luring a separate sporting ''bonanza'' to the capital.'
Barr was quoted in the report as saying: '[The AFL, NRL and Super15] are going to have to move away from Sydney and Melbourne and it might be strategically to our advantage not to have anything to do with the football World Cup and take extra AFL, rugby league and rugby union [matches] instead.
''If the other competitions aren't going to go into obedience [with FIFA and suspend action] for that period, then it could be a bonanza for Canberra. So we'll just be strategic in what we do in Canberra because we may be able to get the big tourism benefits that we want without having to outlay $200million on a new stadium.''
Today Barr told au.fourfourtwo.com the ACT will keep their options open regarding their role in a World Cup on Australian soil but reiterated the financial burden was too prohibitive for the ACT to bear on their own.
"Contrary to the headline in the Canberra Times, the ACT Government remains interested in being involved in the World Cup bid, but, having said that, we have to be realistic about the role we can play," Barr said.
"To be a host city would require a capital investment of at least $200 million to build a new 43,000 seat stadium inside the next ten years. It would also require the ACT Government providing FIFA with a full indemnity for ALL costs associated with staging the event in Canberra. This potentially amounts to tens of millions of dollars.
"This combined investment is beyond the ability of the Territory, with a population of 350,000 people, to fund on its own. We will need assistance from the Federal Government to build a new stadium and to assist with the costs of staging the event."
Barr added: "This is an Australian bid, not a states and territories bid. The Federal Government must be more directly involved.
"If Federal assistance is not forthcoming then we will look at what role we can play in the World Cup as a training venue, which would attract teams and fans to Canberra without requiring a massive stadium investment.
"In addition, we would consider hosting relocated AFL matches at Manuka Oval and Rugby League and Rugby Union matches at Canberra Stadium."
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