Menzies House Contributing Editor Terry Barnes writes in today's Age:
When the Australian bid crashed and burned at last week's FIFA vote to select host nations for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, the anguish of bid leader, Westfield billionaire Frank Lowy, was palpable.
Upbeat pre-vote comments of Lowy, Sports Minister Mark Arbib and even Governor-General Quentin Bryce weren't bravado. They appear to have believed genuinely that they had a big chance of securing a holy grail that has consumed $45 million of public money in pursuing support all over the world.
Yet for all the years and huge expense of courting FIFA president Sepp Blatter and the 22 "faceless men" of his executive, for all the knowing winks, handshakes, smiles and assurances of support that the Australian team were given, the payoff was just one vote and first-round elimination.
The bolter won and Lowy's team apparently didn't see it coming. In reality it was base and raw politics that won Qatar 2022 World Cup, even if its bid relied on big money and even bigger promises.Lowy comes from a business world where a person's word and handshake generally means something. Perhaps his expectations would have been more realistic, and the final outcome better for Australia, if he had examined the experience of those around him such as Arbib and Football Federation Australia board member Ron Walker, who are steeped in the tribal culture of Australian party politics. For the FIFA voting process was uncannily reminiscent of a hotly-contested Labor or Liberal Party safe seat preselection. It featured similar twists in dynamics, loyalties, protestations and promises: it merely was played out on a different stage and a much, much grander scale.
Continue reading the full article at www.theage.com.au
Recent Comments