Australia and Indonesia weigh up joint bid to host 2034 FIFA World Cup

Nine years after the previous attempt to bring football’s showpiece event Down Under, Australian football chiefs have had talks about mounting a joint bid to host the 2034 World Cup.

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Australian football bosses have seven years to build a coalition of support for a joint World Cup bid with Indonesia and other South-East Asian nations, including convincing the government that it won’t result in repeat humiliation.

FIFA is likely to announce the hosts of the 2034 tournament before the 2026 tournament in the US, Canada and Mexico. Australia and Indonesia have held months of talks about a joint bid — possibly in conjunction with other members of the ASEAN region.

Though any bid from South-East Asia is likely to face major competition from China, there is growing political support for an ASEAN proposal to host the World Cup in a region featuring hundreds of millions of football fans.

More countries across South-East Asia have signalled that they may want to join a regional bid, as FIFA looks to multi-country tournaments to solve the logistical challenges of an expanded 48-team World Cup from 2026.

Australian and Indonesia have had talks about a joint bid for the 2034 World Cup. Picture: AFP

But Australian officials will have to convince the Federal Government that the bidding process will be transparent and genuine, after attempts to bring the 2022 World Cup here by Frank Lowy garnered just one vote for an outlay of $45m of public money.

The Indonesian Football Association has received the backing of its government, while Football Federation Australia officials have held informal talks with the Federal Government and will seek to elevate those discussions in coming months.

FFA is already bidding to host the 2023 Women’s World Cup, and is thought to be contemplating a bid for the 2021 U20 World Cup in conjunction with Indonesia. The governing body has moved cautiously through the process of building its Women’s World Cup bid, amid continued criticism that FIFA’s bidding rules are still open to corruption.

Though it is being emphasised that talks between Australia and Indonesia over 2034 are very much in their infancy, there is growing talk of ASEAN putting some sort of bid forward with widespread political backing.

Earlier this week, Thailand Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha suggested all 10 members of ASEAN should be part of a bid, though doubt has been cast over the practicalities of such a concept, not least the fact that host nations have always qualified automatically for a tournament.

But the prospect of Australia uniting with one or more ASEAN members will be pitched at the government in Canberra as a unique bridgehead into Asia, with countries working together on a major project with trade and diplomatic spin-offs.

“Football Federation Australia confirms it has held discussions with the Indonesia Football Association (PSSI) about the possibility to jointly bid for the 2034 World Cup,” FFA said in a statement. “An Indonesia-Australia joint bid was also discussed at last week’s ASEAN Football Federation Council Meeting in Laos.

“FFA notes that a joint South-East Asian bid for the 2034 World Cup was endorsed at the recently held 34th ASEAN Summit in Thailand. FFA welcomes the opportunity to further discuss a ASEAN bid for the 2034 World Cup with fellow Member Associations in the region.”