Australia trying to bribe their way to 2022 FIFA World Cup?

cr@zydude

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Now, they may have claimed to be Plan B for when SA failed to host 2010, but it looks like they are having some trouble in getting the 2022 World Cup.

First of all there is the venue debacle: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_2022_FIFA_World_Cup_bid#Potential_venues

Their rival sports leagues are fighting over who gets to use which stadiums during the World Cup.

The bigger issue however is this allegation:
An exclusive report by Fairfax newspapers cited private Football Federation Australia files that it said detailed 11.37 million dollars (9.68 million US) in payments to two consultants - a quarter of the total bid budget.

It also listed gifts of pearl necklaces for the wives of FIFA executive committee members, who will decide in December which countries will host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

The FFA also handed out pearl cufflinks, offered a free trip to Australia to a committee member for his birthday, and paid for a football team linked to FIFA vice president Jack Warner to visit Cyprus last year, the report said.

It added that the huge payments to the consultants, who have boasted of close ties to Warner, FIFA president Sepp Blatter and the influential Franz Beckenbauer, were seen in a separate file not intended for government scrutiny.

Sports Minister Kate Ellis promised to investigate the allegations.

"Obviously the way the FFA spends government money is subject to the usual reporting and scrutiny requirements," she said through a spokeswoman.

"Any evidence to the contrary will be thoroughly investigated by the government, as would any alleged breach of the funding agreement."

Australia has firmed as a leading contender to host the 2022 World Cup after pulling out of the running for 2018. It initially filed a bid to host either edition.

The documents, dated mid-2009, also suggest the government was not given details of plans to give 6.5 million Australian dollars in grants to football bodies in Africa, Asia and Oceania, the report said.

The FFA strongly defended its conduct of the bid, stressing it was "common practice" to hand "symbolic gifts" to visiting delegations.

"The FFA is completely transparent in its dealings with government and has provided all information regarding the bidding process requested by government," chief executive Ben Buckley told Fairfax.

The report added that one of the consultants had been implicated in a scheme to allegedly offer financial inducements to FIFA members to back Germany's hosting of the 2006 World Cup.

The other was allegedly linked to a securities fraud in Hungary, it said.

Times Live

Looks like Aus are not as ready for the World Cup as they claim.:whistle:
 
I though bribery was standard operating procedure at getting the world cup. We used Mandela and white guilt:p
 
I hope they get the WC 2022. Then we can publish everywhere that SA is back up ready to take over because Aussies are not able to. We will f@=k around with their brains just for kicks.
 
I hope they get the WC 2022. Then we can publish everywhere that SA is back up ready to take over because Aussies are not able to. We will f@=k around with their brains just for kicks.

I highly doubt that they will get 2022, unless their is a mjor turnaround in their bid. The claim that they don't want to build any new stadiums, but they don't have big enough ones spread around the country. All the big ones are in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

It's likely to be England in 2018, and the USA in 2022.
 
I'm quite sure bribes are part and parcel of the whole bidding process. Otherwise what incentive is there for voting nations to go one way or another?

Yeah I don't want the Aussies to get the WC - will mess up the TV viewing times completely (be in the early morning/afternoon all the time!)
 
I think of at least 10 other countries who I would prefer to see host the SWC.
 
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