Soccer News Soccer Match Reports, Football News 
November 16 – There has been plenty of comment around the short timelines given by FIFA to participate in the bidding for 2034 World Cup hosting and the process that led to them. But those who might have had an interest in getting involved appear to have quickly moved on.
Front and centre of that group is Football Australia who provided the hosting backbone for what was a ground-breaking Women’s World Cup in 2023, co-hosted with New Zealand.
James Johnson, CEO of Football Australia, said “We were taken a little by surprise over the decision over the 2034 World Cup bidding process. We looked at it, how quickly we needed to move and at the investment versus the opportunity cost. There were a lot of questions over time and resource.
Qatar 2022 was very good but very expensive. 2034 is interesting and with Saudi Arabia very much a disruptor it becomes interesting again. Saudi have the full support of Asia and we are very happy there will be another World Cup in our region.”
Johnson has rapidly readjusted and reset explaining that they “see a runway of opportunity over a decade. Hosting the 2023 World Cup was really the start of that.”
“In terms of 2034 there is no bitter taste. We never entered the process, we chose not to enter. We did explore the opportunity but we have been looking at hosting a range of international competitions as part of a broader initiative.”
With hosting the 2034 World Cup now off the table the targets of winning the hosting of the Women’s Asian Cup in 2026 and the 32-team Club World Cup in 2027 are very much front and centre of this hosting ambition and the 2023 Women’s World Cup has given Australia the undeniable credentials in that regard.
“The Women’s World Cup this summer has formed a strong backbone of what we wanted, globally and locally,” Johnson told Insideworldfootball on the sidelines of the Soccerex Convention in Miami.
“We smashed attendance records for example. Moving stadia from the Sydney…
Source link : https://www.insideworldfootball.com/2023/11/16/2034-off-table-australias-johnson-looking-womens-asian-cup-2026-2029-cwc/
Author : Paul Nicholson
Publish date : 2023-11-16 03:11:38
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