World Football: Australia Launches World Cup Bid; Confederations Cup Kicks Off

The launch of the Australia World Cup bid in Canberra. (ATR/Panasonic:Lumix) Australia Launches FIFA World Cup Bid

Australia launched its bid to host the 2018 or 2022 FIFA World Cup at a slickly-produced event last weekend in which the Great Hall of Parliament House in Canberra was transformed into a mini-football stadium.

The nation’s football community and political leaders took their seats for the launch on grandstand-style seating, with eight giant screens surrounding them in octagonal formation.

Unlike the English bid launch, which made use of David Beckham’s extraordinary global popularity, there were no superstars in the lineup, except perhaps ‘Socceroo’ captain Lucas Neill and his goalkeeper team mate, Mark Schwarzer.

Instead, Australian bid leaders focused on short messages of how hosting a World Cup would benefit various members of the football community and announced a social networking initiative to promote the bid,

http://www.australia2018-2022.com.au

A two and a half minute promotional video featuring Australia’s overseas-based star striker Harry Kewell and showcasing Australia’s diverse natural beauty and iconic attractions was part of the presentation, available for viewing at this YouTube link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezCpmSZN_9g&feature=player_embedded

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd called the World Cup “the greatest event on earth” and applauded Australian football’s “audacity, sheer chutzpah and organizational skills”.

“We are good at hosting big events… This is an extraordinary opportunity to showcase Australia to the world.”

Football Federation Australia chairman, Westfield shopping mall tycoon Frank Lowy, insists that that, despite the strong belief of many FIFA types that the World Cup should return to Europe in 2018, Australia’s bid is serious and credible.

He said winning the bid to host the World Cup was one of the biggest challenges in sport, noting it would bring “Australia to the world and the world to Australia”.

“We enter confidently and we enter to win it. We have our own very strong credentials,” Lowy said. “Together we can make the dream come true.”

The Australian government will spend $36.5 million on the bid.

Australia will be up against nine other bids when FIFA decides on hosts for both the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups in December next year.

It has adopted the slogan “Let’s Play” and a bid logo featuring one of the nation’s most recognizable icons, the kangaroo.

Confederations Cup Kicks Off

South African president Jacob Zuma and Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Australian World Cup bid chair Frank Lowy and opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull. (ATR/Panasonic:Lumix)FIFA president Sepp Blatter were the stars of the show as the African continent kicked off its first-ever installment of the two-week Confederations Cup on Sunday in a colorful explosion of traditional African music, dance and song.

A capacity crowd of 50,000 at Johannesburg’s Ellis Park underpinned an electric atmosphere at the venue, with deafening cheers accompanied by the noisy sound of plastic trumpets.

Zuma said the tournament was a historic milestone for the entire African continent.

“Today this indeed is a great day for Africa and for South Africa,” he told the crowd.

“Therefore I would like to declare the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup -- opened!”

Blatter told the crowd that FIFA wanted to thank South Africa for its progress with preparations for the World Cup.

“Dear friends, FIFA is committed to Africa. Brothers and sisters, I would like to say a lot of thanks to the people of South Africa, to the African continent, who have organized this competition,” Blatter said.

Entertainment for the ceremony featured some 700 school pupils forming a giant human flag and a musical showcase of local talent including jazz artist Hugh Masekela.

The opening match– a 0-0 draw between the hosts and Iraq – ensured local fan celebrations were more mild than wild, while in the second match Spain, arguably the world’s best team, trounced New Zealand The eight-nation Confederations Cup runs until June 28. (Getty Images)5-0.

Major stakeholders in the tournament have worked hard to ensure its success, with the tournament serving as a critical dress rehearsal for the FIFA World Cup.

Among the key concerns of both visitors and South Africa’s political leaders is safety and security for both the Confederations Cup and World Cup.

South African Police say they have deployed more than 8,000 police officers at venues, major airports and hotels to provide security for visiting and local football fans, team delegations and the media.

“We are very confident that the event, particularly the Confederations Cup, will be very secure and of course also the World Cup itself will be very secure,” Rich Mkhondo, Chief Media Spokesperson for the Local Organizing Committee of FIFA, told The Associated Press.

“We’re going to have 12,000 security officers who are going to be on duty during the Confederations Cup. Everything is in place when it comes to security. The spectators, the visitors and the teams are going to be secure.”

Written by Anthony Stavrinos For general comments or questions, click here