The Cost is in the Detail

For even the most casual observer of Australian sport, in the past week it has been near impossible to avoid the trials and tribulations of the Football Federation of Australia (FIFA) bid for the 2022 World Cup.

From the now infamous kleptomaniac kangaroo video directed by once successful director Phillip Noyce to the mercy dash of Supermodel turned national ambassador Elle McPherson to lend some ‘glamour’ to the bidding process in Zurich, the Australian media has feasted upon the possibilities Australia hosting a World Cup.

Photo // The Daily Telegraph

Phrases such as ‘nation changing’, ‘more significant than the Sydney Olympics’ and ‘the event that will show Australia to the world’ have been thrown around by former Socceroos and supposed Australian cultural experts, in a hyperbole that leaves Jessica Watson and the Chilean Miners in shame for their only minor exposure.

The Australian media proposed that all this should – nay must – all add up to be the quintessential Australian success story. A time in which all can come together and celebrate Australia proving once again that it is the Sporting Capital of the World; the destination where big events thrive.

Except for one minor detail that the bubbling Australian media neglected to consider: We lost.

Photo // Idaho Statesman

The World Cup in 2022 is to be hosted by Qatar – a tiny emirate of 1.6 million people, with an area of about half the size of that of Tasmania. An emirate that campaigned on a platform of investing $50 billion dollars to transform it from a regional city to that of a thriving economic centre.

FIFA raises about 90% of its total revenue from its quadrennial event so it can be argued that it was justified in awarding the event to a nation that promises a gateway to Asia, which in 2022 if one is to believe population futurists will make up over 75% of the world’s population. The Middle East has never had an opportunity to host any sporting event of note, let alone the biggest of them all.

And the event will be the first World Cup that is carbon neutral, with stadiums to be cooled using solar technology and all construction to be offset by zero carbon technology. To top it off, Qatar will disassemble its stadiums at the conclusion of the event to be donated to developing countries so that they too can play football in cooled comfort.

Compare this to a thieving kangaroo. Which seems more appealing?

In fact, the streets of Australian football have always been paved with bad luck. From failing to qualify for the 1998 World Cup by equaling Iran on goals, to THAT penalty in the 2006 World Cup Finals against Italy, Australian football has never quite made it to the levels that other sporting codes consider normal.

The Australian Government and FIFA jointly invested around $45.6 million in this bidding process. Millions of dollars were spent wooing twenty two FIFA representatives who in the end gave Australia only one vote and eliminated us first from the voting process.

So is this money well spent? Well consider this. If Australia was to be successful, it was proposed that $2.2 billion dollars be spent preparing the country for this month long event. $2.2 billion dollars. Of tax-payers money. To build stadiums. That have to have a capacity of over 40 000. That would serve no purpose once the event has finished.

Something just doesn’t quite add up on this one. In a country that has just reintroduced nuclear energy into its power debate, this money would perhaps be better spent finding a renewable energy source that is risk free and cost-effective.

No one knows what the world is going to be like in twelve years, however the awarding of events such as the World Cup has the opportunity to create diplomacy that will steer all in a right direction. Qatar now has the opportunity to host an event that can redirect the focus of the Middle East to development and humanity. And it will do it all whilst being carbon neutral and helping developing nations. Rather than begrudging the bidding process and accusing FIFA of corruption, Australians should acknowledge all the opportunities that the World Cup will offer not only this emirate, but the entire world.

Not getting too far ahead of ourselves would also help.