Matildas live sites Brisbane: Gabba, Riverstage ruled out by state
The state government is refusing to open up Brisbane’s vacant stadium so Matildas fans can watch Wednesday’s historic World Cup semi-final.
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The state government is refusing to follow its southern counterparts in opening up Brisbane’s vacant stadium so tens of thousands of Matildas fans can get together to watch Wednesday’s historic World Cup semi-final.
In a coup for fans, it was confirmed on Tuesday that Riverstage will be opened to 9000 football fans, taking the total live site capacity to 23,000, but that still pales in comparison to other major cities.
Sport Minister Stirling Hinchliffe has blamed “public transport implications” for Brisbane fans having to make do with Riverstage, plus an expanded South Bank live site and the big screen being switched on at King George Square – instead of the Gabba, which could host up to 40,000 fans for what would be an unforgettable experience.
Two stadiums with a combined capacity of 75,000 will be opened for fans in Sydney to watch on the big screens, while in Melbourne the gates to the Storm’s home ground (capacity 30,000) will be thrown open.
In Adelaide, Memorial Drive tennis stadium will show the match live, in addition to the official FIFA live site there, and those in Melbourne and Sydney.
But Mr Hinchliffe is resisting calls to put on a historic watch party at the Gabba.
Mr Hinchliffe said it was just too big a challenge to give Matildas fans such an experience.
“It has been investigated … we’ve had to consider things around the public transport implications for those spaces (and) we felt that it was the right measure to support the (South Bank) live site that people have known and have loved,” he said.
Suncorp Stadium is still locked down as a FIFA match venue, to host Saturday’s third-place playoff.
A spokesman for Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said he was “happy to consider further live sites if requested by the state government, which is the lead agency on this event” – but confirmed the council would regardless be activating King George Square as a live site.
A live site will be established on the Gold Coast, with the city’s mayor Tom Tate inviting people to watch the game at the end of Cavill Mall on the Surfers Paradise foreshore.
Hundreds of bus drivers and cleaners in Logan and on the Gold and Sunshine coasts will take industrial action on Wednesday, protesting low wages, driver shortages and a lack of investment in public transport.
North of Brisbane, Sunshine Coast Stadium will open its gates for supporters to watch the game on the big screen. The stadium will open from 7pm, with food and drink available.
Former Socceroo John Kosmina said as many venues as possible should open up across Brisbane as the Matildas unified the nation.
“We need to support the fan-fest concept of people getting together and being able to celebrate, you can’t do that in front of a television set,” he said.
“Open up as many venues as possible for people to celebrate … they could open up Suncorp Stadium and get both screens running … people should be able to dance and jump up and down and mingle and they need to do it in a hurry.”
And the old club of Matilda Clare Polkinghorne also lent its voice to the push to open up more and bigger venues.
Wynnum Wolves committee member Vicki Krayem said watching Polkinghorne in the landmark win over France was amazing.
“Everyone’s feeding off that energy that’s around at the moment and you know, there’s no better way to do that than when you’re with other people in a big group,” she said. “I don’t think even if you tried to script that game you could have done it … I don’t think anyone would have gotten that right, it was just incredible.”
Wolves coach Mark Sutton said live sites at central and accessible locations such as Riverstage were imperative.
“Before the game last Monday we were walking around trying to find a live site to watch it, but all just ended up going home,” he said.
“They’re important, the live sites build energy around the game and support for the sport; definitely there should be more.”
Meanwhile, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk again declined to say if she supports Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s call for a public holiday if the Matildas win the Cup, instead calling for Queenslanders to support the team on Wednesday.
“This is a great opportunity for our restaurants, our clubs, our pubs to open their doors, to get people in to come and see the match, but also too to paint Queensland in a sea of green and gold.”
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Originally published as Matildas live sites Brisbane: Gabba, Riverstage ruled out by state
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