Visits of Chelsea and Spurs put Sydney in spotlight but Melbourne happy to hold fire

SYDNEY may have beaten Melbourne in the bid to host English champions Chelsea, but local officials are confident that Real Madrid and Manchester City will be a bigger drawcard in July.

Tottenham Hotspur player Harry Kane (C) shoots as Sydney FC defenders Alexander Gersbach (L) and Matthew Jurman (R) look on in their friendly football match in Sydney on May 30, 2015. AFP PHOTO/William WEST --IMAGE RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - STRICTLY NO COMMERCIAL USE--

SYDNEY may have beaten Melbourne in the bid to host English champions Chelsea, but local officials are confident that Real Madrid and Manchester City will be a bigger drawcard in July.

Melbourne Victory and VMEC were in talks about hosting Jose Mourinho’s side, though conjecture surrounds whether it was for this year or the future.

Diego Costa, John Terry, Eden Hazard and company could break the ANZ Stadium record of 83,833 - since its 2002 reconfiguration - when the Blues face Sydney FC on Tuesday night.

The Victorian government is understood to have committed in excess of $8m to hosting July’s International Champions Cup (ICC) _ a three-game tournament between Real, City and Roma.

Sources claim that VMEC was offered a Chelsea game this week or July, but VMEC chief executive Brendan McClements said talks centred on future years.

Chelsea captain John Terry and manager Jose Mourinho in Sydney.

“There wasn’t a proposal presented to VMEC to support the (Chelsea) game,’’ McClements said.

“We understand the promoter (Lou Sticca) formed a view that given the strength of teams coming to Melbourne for the ICC, his preference was to go to Sydney.’’

Sydney is hogging the football spotlight, with fellow English Premier League giants Tottenham attracting over 71,000 fans in Saturday night’s 1-0 win over Sydney FC.

Victoria came under scrutiny after allowing NSW to host both Asian Cup semi-finals and final, while it’s unlikely to host a Socceroos World Cup qualifier in the near future.

And Victory was forced to play its grand final at the 30,000-capacity AAMI Park, with the AFL hosting a lesser crowd at Etihad Stadium.

McClements said local football and sports fans shouldn’t feel dudded.

“I wouldn’t have thought that’s the case, Man City, Real Madrid and Roma in a genuine competition,’’ he said.

“ICC will do 25 per cent more than that (the Chelsea and Tottenham games), so Victorian supporters are seeing a great tournament with three of the best clubs in the world.’’

Originally published as Visits of Chelsea and Spurs put Sydney in spotlight but Melbourne happy to hold fire