John Howard, Prime Minister of Australia, who was not notified of an Australian 2014 World Cup soccer bid until it was published, labelled the move as a political stunt and failed to endorse the bid.
But he said the federal government would be able to assist with a bid sometime in the future once all parties had been consulted.
And FIFA head Sepp Blatter said Australian soccer lacks the professionalism to host the 2014 World Cup. He said the success of the 2000 Olympic Games proved Australia was capable of hosting a major international sporting event. But he added Soccer Australia has a lot of work to do before it can convince the sport’s international governing body that the southern continent was a viable place to host a World Cup.
“You need continuity, stability and to establish football in Australian society…and to have a strong professional league. There’s a long way to go, and it’s going to be hard work”.
Blatter also said that no bid from Australia would be accepted without the backing of its federal government.
Howard said the federal government would help Soccer Australia promote the sport locally, but he was unsure if it was in a position to host the World Cup.
“We have to sort of crawl before we walk in relation to things like international bid”, said Howard. “We’ll help…because I think this sport’s got tremendous grass-roots momentum in Australia”.
