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DAN SILKSTONE
December 8, 2009 Comments 40
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AUSTRALIA'S bid for the soccer World Cup is in danger of being derailed after AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou declared Etihad Stadium off limits for the world's largest sporting event.
In an extraordinary outbreak of war between the codes, Mr Demetriou has lashed out at soccer authorities for ''trumpeting'' their plans to use Etihad Stadium as a World Cup venue without consulting the AFL.
He said the AFL had already offered to give up the MCG for part of a season and could not afford to do without the Docklands stadium as well.
In response, Football Federation Australia has threatened to strip World Cup games from Melbourne and send them interstate.
Soccer needs the Docklands venue as part of its World Cup plans and had already been struggling to meet the requirements of soccer's international body, FIFA, for at least a dozen 40,000-seat stadiums.
But Mr Demetriou signalled yesterday he would not compromise on the Docklands stadium, which is under contract to the AFL for 25 years.
''It's impossible to run a football season without Etihad,'' Mr Demetriou told The Age. ''We have put up a suggestion of the MCG being unavailable for 10 weeks, which would require our agreement, but we need Etihad to have a season,'' he said.
Mr Demetriou accused the World Cup bid team, led by his old friend and former AFL teammate Ben Buckley, of being disrespectful.
He said he was not interested in working out a compromise for the World Cup. ''It's not for the AFL to come up with solutions for FIFA and the FFA. The language has to change,'' he said.
''We've come up with a proposal to be an accommodating, collaborative partner to support the World Cup bid.
''Our solution is (they use) the MCG for 10 weeks, we play our season around it and play in other areas and other grounds, but you need Etihad. It's the only way it works.''
A shocked Mr Buckley said last night the AFL's stance could mean Victorians would miss out on their share of World Cup action. ''Our preferred position, and the one we've worked towards, is to use Etihad Stadium as one of our venues,'' he said. ''It is one of the best stadiums in Australia and in the world.
''If Etihad is not included we would have to relocate a significant amount of games away from Victoria and that would be a real shame for the people of Victoria.''
Mr Buckley, the former AFL No.2, said he still hoped a deal could be reached with the AFL for access to the stadium.
But that prospect seemed remote after it emerged last night that the FFA had yesterday received a letter from Etihad Stadium chief executive Ian Collins saying that he did not wish the stadium to play any part in the World Cup bid. Mr Collins would not comment last night.
The FFA had initially believed it would not need the venue, instead using the MCG and the new rectangular stadium on Swan Street as World Cup venues.
That stadium was supposedly ''future-proofed'' so that it could be enlarged to 40,000. But the FFA turned back to Etihad after it emerged that the distinctive bubble roof of the rectangular venue meant it would cost a prohibitive $150 million to enlarge it.
Etihad Stadium featured in the glossy book and film handed out to FIFA delegates as part of Australia's lobbying effort at the World Cup draw in South Africa last week.
It was also shown off by the FFA to an official party of international journalists brought to Australia by the FFA for a familiarisation tour last month.
Mr Demetriou said he only learnt that Etihad was being targeted for the World Cup when he read in The Age that visiting journalists were being hosted at the venue.
''Suddenly we have them trumpeting Etihad as a stadium for their bid. It's completely disrespectful to us, it's completely misleading to people, because it's completely untrue,'' Mr Demetriou said.
''It's for them to go away and work out solutions. It's not for us to come up with a solution of what to do about Etihad.
''We've got Etihad and we've got the MCG. People forget there are things called agreements in place.''
On Monday, Mr Demetriou complained about FFA plans to convert the MCG to rectangular seating, which he said would rob the AFL of its home for 16 weeks.
But those plans were always regarded as a long shot by soccer authorities, developed as one among several options. Mr Buckley immediately stressed that it was not a serious proposition for the bid.
http://www.watoday.com.au/sport/socc...1209-khub.html
They better tell the WAFC - they are trying to use the World Cup as a reason to redo Subi. Maybe they wil soon realise the concept of rectangles and ovals.
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