Zurich, Switzerland. The decision on the hosting of the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cup tournaments revealed in Zurich as Russia and Qatar respectively. Members of the Australian delegation address media after the announcement. Pic - Britta Campion. Ê Picture: Campion Britta Source: Herald Sun
The Emir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani (L) and Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov (R) hold the World Cup trophy behind FIFA president Sepp Blatter on December 2, 2010 at the FIFA headquarters in Zurich. Russia and the tiny Gulf state of Qatar were awarded the 2018 and 2022 World Cups Thursday after an acrimonious bidding war marred by allegations of corruption and illegal deal-making. AFP PHOTO / FABRICE COFFRINI Source: AFP
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A DESPONDENT Frank Lowy was this morning digesting Australias failed campaign filled with broken promises.
Australia astonishingly received just one of 22 votes on offer to be eliminated in the first round of polling.
Lowy was alerted to the fact by the media just 30 minutes after FIFA president Sepp Blatter announced to the world that Qatar would host the 2022 World Cup.
Australia’s bid chairman was visibly stunned when informed, which was just minutes after Lowy claimed he did not believe that the votes would be revealed.
“I was working hard right to the end to lobby, and I was not expecting this,’’ said a shattered Lowy.
“Maybe people told us one thing and did another.
“We thought we had good numbers but maybe the statistics were wrong.’’
A "quietly confident" Lowy told News Limited on Monday that he had hoped to secure “more than four votes" in the first round.
The fact that Qatar, with 11 votes, was just one short of claiming the World Cup in the first round yet polled 10 in second round suggests that there may have been tactical voting from which Australia suffered.
Japan (three votes in the first round) also polled less votes in the second round.
In the end the 2022 race went the distance with Qatar edging out USA 14-8 in the fourth and final of voting.
The results will call into question the effectiveness of Australia’s highly paid consultants.
“I am not privy to the process therefore I can not make a comment on it,’’ Lowy said. “Everybody has their opinion. From the outset we have decided not to talk about the other nations, what we have to do is to congratulate the winners.’’
Lowy has returned to the Australian bid team's HQ in Zurich to where they will conduct an unofficial post-mortem.
He remained defiant after Australia’s humiliating early exit and vowed to carry on in his role as FFA chairman.
“The sun will come up tomorrow morning, Australia is there waiting for us, it’s a great future for Australia, it’s a great future for our game,’’ said Lowy.
“We lost a bit of a turbo charge that we didn’t have and we have to make up for it.
“I’m not a man to lay down. This battle has been lost - there’s many, many more battles to be won.’’
Qatar’s bid chairman Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad Al-Thani promised the world that they would deliver on all of their promises in 12 years’ time.
“Thank you for believing in change, thank you for expanding the game and thank you for giving Qatar a chance,’’ he said.
“We will not let you down.’’
The Australian delegation will depart Zurich Friday morning (Swiss time).
It will inevitably lead to questions about the wisdom of committing $45m of government money to a bid that in the end could only corral one supporter - almost certainly German delegate Franz Beckenbauer.
Federal Sports Minister Mark Arbib denied there was any sense of money wasted and insisted it had been a positive experience simply being in the running.
But the humiliating failure of a lobbying campaign overseen by European consultants paid millions for their work is certain to spark claims that the money was destined to fund a doomed project.
Arbib though claimed that Australia was viewed in a different light from the work involved in the bid.
"We don't regret any of it," he said minutes after Qatar had been announced as the winner of the 2022 race.
"The FFA has run a wonderful bid and had the full backing of the Government, the Opposition and the state governments. It was truly a national effort and in the end it failed, but the exposure Australia has had, even down to the bid presentation yesterday, has been very powerful."
A stunned Football Federation CEO, Ben Buckley, struggled to make sense of the voting figures.
"We thought we had a solid base of support, and were of the understanding that we would get significantly more votes. All our discussions had led us to believe we had more support," he said.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard said Australia put forward the best bid possible.
In a joint statement, Ms Gillard and Sport Minister Mark Arbib congratulated Qatar on their successful bid.
"Australia put the best bid possible forward and everyone associated should be extremely proud of their efforts,'' the statement said.
Ms Gillard said Australia was disappointed to not have been awarded the hosting rights, adding the bid received bi-partisan support from the federal parliament and each state and territory government.
"Hours of effort were put into ensuring Australia put forward a technically excellent, credible and responsible bid against enormous competition .
"It is through these efforts that we came so close to the ultimate prize."
FIFA EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE VOTING
2018 World Cup
Round 1: England 2 votes, Netherlands/Belgium 4 votes, Spain/Portugal 7 votes and Russia 9 votes (as no absolute majority was reached, the candidate with least amount of votes, England, was eliminated)
Round 2: Netherlands/Belgium 2 votes, Spain/Portugal 7 votes and Russia 13 votes (Russia obtained an absolute majority)
2022 FIFA World Cup
Round 1: Australia 1 vote, Japan 3 votes, Korea Republic 4 votes, Qatar 11 votes, USA 3 votes (Australia eliminated)
Round 2: Japan 2 votes, Korea Republic 5 votes, Qatar 10 votes and USA 5 votes (Japan eliminated)
Round 3: Korea Republic 5 votes, Qatar 11 votes, USA 6 votes (Korea Republic eliminated)
Round 4: Qatar 14 votes and USA 8 votes (Qatar obtained an absolute majority)
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