By Liam FitzGibbon and Laine Clark
Frank Lowy has admitted the "unnecessary" squabbling between football codes over stadia may have hurt Australia's bid to host the 2018 or 2022 World Cup.
But the Football Federation Australia chairman is remaining defiant in the face of the latest criticism of Australia's bid to host the showpiece tournament.
Leading football industry website World Football Insider this week produced a damning assessment of Australia's bid, saying it had plummeted to seventh-best due to recent stadia dramas involving the AFL.
But Lowy has slammed the report as "a lot of nonsense" before taking another pot shot at the AFL's hard-line approach to stadium availability.
"There are 24 people who are going to make that decision (FIFA executive committee) and the people who write about it have no idea what they are talking about," he said at the opening of the Lowy Cancer Research Centre at the University of NSW.
"Did it hurt us the squabbles about the stadia? Yes.
"Did it hurt us very badly? Not that badly.
"But I would have preferred not to have it because it should have and could have been sorted out totally differently.
"The squabble wasn't necessary."
The AFL's decision to put its 54,000-seat Etihad Stadium off limits left Victoria with just two venues - the MCG and Geelong's Skilled Stadium - compared to a combined five in NSW/ACT.
Lowy reiterated his disappointment at the approach taken by the AFL.
"I don't think they did the right thing," he said.
"But we are all here now.
"... In Japan, the baseball laid down for the football World Cup and they had it.
"I think it could have been a bit easier here."
AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou hit back, claiming his code had been a "fantastic supporter" of the World Cup bid.
"The AFL was fully cooperative during the whole World Cup bid process," said Demetriou, after being told of Lowy's comments.
"We have publicly stated we are supportive of the bid, we have given up five venues, which is the most of any code, to help the World Cup bid.
"... I am not sure where those comments came from but it might have been confused with 'grateful to the AFL'."
AAP