FIFA World Cup: Australia on the Verge of Hosting 2022 FIFA World Cup
The battle for hosting the 2022 football World Cup is underway, as the Federation of International Football Association narrows down potential host countries for staging the coveted event.
In the forefront of the race is the host of the 2000 summer Olympics, Australia.
Their quest to win the hosting rights for the event gain momentum, as the governing body of soccer FIFA has decided to have a closer look at the arrangements that Australia has claimed would be put in place for the coveted event.
A delegation from the sport's governing body arrived in Sydney to assess the country's suitability and infrastructure to stage such an event of such magnitude.
The World Cup is the premier sporting event around the globe, which is seen by millions even in countries who don’t even participate in the finals.
The six-member teams of experts who are going to scrutinize the facilities down under were greeted at the Sydney Opera House by the head of the Football Federation of Australia, Frank Lowy and the Sports Minister for New South Wales, Kate Ellis.
Lowry and Ellis discussed the possibilities of hosting the tournament with each of the delegates, including the man at the helm of the affairs in FIFA’s inspection.
Chile's Football Federation’s head Harold Mayne-Nichools, is leading the pack of the delegates.
"We will learn a lot about your people, about your bidding book and about your abilities to host big events," Mayne Nichools added with the spectacular Sydney Harbour in the background.
"And we hope also you will be in the position to ask us all the questions you think you need to resolve before we write a final report to the ex-com members .On the report, we will do our best to be as subjective as possible and try to put all the questions and answers in the right way."
Expectedly the Australian Football Association is going all out to make the trip a truly memorable one for the delegation, in a bid to pursue them to grant the most coveted soccer prize.
The delegation was treated to a traditional Aboriginal welcome, as they sat down to work out the tid-bits of the Aussie bid.
The Australian Federation is confident that they can tackle any question that is thrown at them by FIFA.
They claim that there bid is as good as it gets and they have all grounds covered well and truly.
"We have a very strong preparation, we have a very strong bid prepared, they have the book of course, we have got to answer some questions, we are confident about it, we are confident that we have a good book, we have a good country, we can do the job," he said.
After their welcome party was over, the delegate accompanied by the Australian officials then visited Sydney's Stadium Australia, which was the centre piece of the 2000 Olympic Games.
The group was then joined by the likes of former athletics star Cathy Freeman and Australian football star John Aloisi.
The duo shared their experiences of the venue where Freeman won her Olympic gold medal in the 400 meters.
On the other hand, the socceroo hero Aloisi also gave insight about what he felt at the venue where he scored a World Cup qualifying penalty against Uruguay in 2005.
The delegation inspecting the Aussie infrastructure will submit a report to FIFA's executive members.
The host of the coveted event will be announced on December 2, 2010 in Zurich.
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