Australia ‘will bid’ for 2034 men’s World Cup, despite $46m black eye

Football Australia has made its first move to host the men’s World Cup, returning to the “shark-infested waters” of FIFA.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - AUGUST 16: Sam Kerr of Australia applauds fans after the team's 1-3 defeat and elimination from the tournament following the FIFA Women's World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023 Semi Final match between Australia and England at Stadium Australia on August 16, 2023 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images )

Football Australia boss James Johnson has made his boldest comment yet that Australia is seriously considering putting together a bid to host the men’s 2034 World Cup.

Johnson has more ammunition in his arsenal than ever before as a result of the wildly successful staging of the 2023 Women’s World Cup shared between Australia and New Zealand.

Australian football is running on a high with the Matildas’ journey through to the semi-finals gripping the country like no other national team has previously. A reach of 11.15 million TV viewers for the loss against England is unheard of.

Johnson on Friday told Sky News the conversations about a possible 2034 bid need to start now.

“We will bid for a Men’s World Cup (and) 2034, we’re looking at that right now,” he told Sky News Australia host Pete Stefanovic.

“I think when you host the best ever Women’s World Cup it starts to open doors so we’ll be looking very seriously at what our chances could look for in 2034.”

Sam Kerr. Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images.

The bidding nations fighting for the right to host the 2034 event will not be finalised until 2026.

“This current administration under (FIFA president) Gianni Infantino has given us the opportunity to show the world that we can host top competitions,” he said.

“This is one of the crown jewels of FIFA, the Women’s World Cup, I think we’ve made Australia proud and I also think we’ve made the world proud so I think when we bid for a Men’s World Cup we’ll be in good standing.”

Infantino earlier labelled this the “greatest Women’s World Cup ever” — but Australia knows only too well that such things do not matter in the halls of power at FIFA headquarters in Zurich.

Australia has been burned before. Some things are not forgotten. The nation was besmirched on a global stage the last time Australia bid for the men’s World Cup with the 2022 bid team’s $46 million fiasco setting Australian football back 20 years. While almost $50 million in public money was poured down the tournament in the bidding process, just $5 million was spent on the bid that secured the rights for the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia. It also helped that in the middle of a global pandemic, Australia was the safest bet.

The scandal behind the 2022 bid famously ended with one vote bing cast for the Australian campaign.

Former FIFA boss Sepp Blatter.

The shockwaves of the disaster are still rippling through Australian sport — and there are plenty that will turn their back on any future plans to host the men’s World Cup on home soil for that exact reason.

It’s easy to see why.

Here is just a taste of the commentary that is still sitting in the mouths of the Australian public since Qatar was infamously awarded the rights to host the tournament during the 2010 vote.

The most searing commentary comes from Aussie FIFA whistleblower Bonita Mersiades and her 2018 book ‘Whatever It Takes’.

Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter, who resigned, was suspended and eventually banned from being involved in football after a 17-year reign as the head of the sport, shows why the failed bid is such a national humiliation that any future bidding aspirations will be tainted from the start.

“You never had a chance because you were never going to be competitive for the broadcasters,” Blatter said in the book published five years ago.

“Not the time zone, not the money. It is obvious. We have to make enough money at the World Cup for the next four years and Australia wouldn’t be able to do it.”

Far worse than that, the grubby methods that were used by some contractors acting on Football Australia’s behalf has perhaps permanently broken the trust between Aussie football’s governing body and the Australian sporting landscape.

Socceroos goal keeper Mat Ryan had 26 of his family and relatives travel to Qatar to watch him. Picture; Toby Zerna.

According to Mersiades, three consultants hired by the Football Australia cost the Australian taxpayer “around $15 million including disbursements”.

A summary of an internal investigation into corruption that occurred during the bidding process for the 2022 World Cup released by Judge Hans-Joachim Eckert of FIFA’s ethics committee concluded members of the Australian bidding team violated bidding and ethics rules, while raising “indications” of attempts to divert funds to countries with ties to voting FIFA executive members.

There was also the case of $50,000 being spent on pearl earings for the wives of some FIFA delegates.

While Infantino has made moved to dilute the influence voting members have, there is still a stench that comes from football’s overlord.

The 2022 World Cup went ahead in Qatar despite revelations the bidding team had used secret “black operations” propaganda campaign to undermine rival bids, a whistleblower told an English newspaper in 2018.

one of the leaked emails the Times claims to have obtained was sent to Qatar’s deputy bid leader Ali al-Thawadi, and allegedly shows the state was aware of plots to spread “poison” against other bidders in the running before Qatar won the right to host the cup in December 2010.

Journalist Dominic Bossi wrote at the time the bid had “ended in humiliation” with Australia drowning in the “shark-infested waters of FIFA”.

Mersiades herself told The Age last year: “We didn’t win because fundamentally we played the game so late. We ran a dodgy bid, with three international consultants who ran a reputational risk. And we just didn’t have as deep pockets as Qatar. It’s as simple as that”.

According to the ABC, Mersiades also wrote: “We didn’t win because we (Australia) played the game the FIFA way. We were diminished. My country, and the game I love.”