Thursday, November 01, 2007
Aussies confident over bid for 2010 World Cup
Football Federation Australia chief executive Ben Buckley believes his organisation can put together a competitive bid to host the 2018 World Cup.
FIFA announced on Monday it was ending its rotation policy and Australia have quickly signalled their intention to bring the showpiece event to Oceania for the first time in its history.
They are likely to face strong competition, however, as England are weighing up a potential bid and China, the United States, Russia and Japan are also reported to be interested, while a joint approach from the Netherlands and Belgium could also emerge.
But Buckley was confident Australia can present a strong case to host the World Cup in 11 years time and insisted it was far too early to start making predictions about who will eventually be awarded the honour.
'We're confident in our abilities to put together a very strong bid and we think Australia would be a great place to host it,' he said.
FIFA announced on Monday it was ending its rotation policy and Australia have quickly signalled their intention to bring the showpiece event to Oceania for the first time in its history.
They are likely to face strong competition, however, as England are weighing up a potential bid and China, the United States, Russia and Japan are also reported to be interested, while a joint approach from the Netherlands and Belgium could also emerge.
But Buckley was confident Australia can present a strong case to host the World Cup in 11 years time and insisted it was far too early to start making predictions about who will eventually be awarded the honour.
'We're confident in our abilities to put together a very strong bid and we think Australia would be a great place to host it,' he said.
