Football Australia must find a suitable co-host if it wants to be successful in any attempt to host a FIFA World Cup, chief executive James Johnson has admitted.<\/p>\n
Johnson confirmed the game has renewed its interest in hosting a men's World Cup, 11 years after the country's bid for the 2022 tournament ended in disappointment when it secured just one vote from FIFA's Council at a cost to taxpayers of A$40 million (NZ$42 million).<\/p>\n
With the 2023 Women's World Cup heading to Australia and New Zealand and Brisbane awarded the 2032 Olympics, Australia could be entering a period filled with mega sporting events, and there is renewed confidence about the integrity of FIFA's decision-making process after a series of reforms led by president Gianni Infantino.<\/p>\n
Johnson stressed that FA had not yet decided to bid for a future World Cup \u2013 most likely in 2034 \u2013 and was a long way from doing so, but said it was important any such talks began now.<\/p>\n
However, Johnson said it would be impossible for Australia to go it alone like the bid team led by then-chairman Frank Lowy did in the failed pursuit of the rights to the 2022 World Cup, which were controversially awarded to Qatar.<\/p>\n
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"If you look at the way Gianni is wanting to run his competition strategies, he wants cross-nation competitions. I don't see any future World Cups being run by one country," said Johnson, a former FIFA executive who worked closely with Infantino.<\/p>\n
"It is something that would need to be done with other countries in the region, both in the Asia and probably Oceania region.<\/p>\n
"What I can say is we've got an opportunity with the '23 Women's World Cup \u2013 I think we will deliver an outstanding tournament. If we can deliver the best ever Women's World Cup tournament, it does put you in a good position to take on more FIFA competitions."<\/p>\n
The two most obvious potential partners for an Australian World Cup bid are the country's two closest neighbours \u2013 New Zealand, who are co-hosts for the 2023 Women's World Cup, and Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Prior to Johnson's appointment as chief executive, Football Australia held talks in 2019 for a joint bid with Indonesia which would potentially involve other nations from south-east Asia.<\/p>\n
"It's very exciting for both of the countries to work together," Ratu Tisha, the secretary general of the Indonesian federation, told The Asian Game<\/em> podcast at the time.<\/p>\n "As we know, Indonesia and Australia have a long relationship, we are brother and sister in every way. The ASEAN region together with Australia, I think it's really a good combination."<\/p>\n FIFA will have a presence in Australia until the end of the Women's World Cup, having opened a local office to assist planning and preparations \u2013 giving Australia unprecedented access to senior FIFA administrators to whom they can push their case to host the greatest show on earth.<\/p>\n For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0clicking here!<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"