Oldham Rhino wrote:Bit harsh that captain.
We had this debate a few months ago and at the moment I don't think Australia has sufficent stadia to stage the tournament. It's an advantage that we have here in England at the moment.
Personally, I think that's a very good reason WHY Australia might get the 2010 World Cup.
You could have said the very same about Japan, Korea and South Africa about their infrastructure (and indeed Switzerland, Poland and Ukraine for the European Championships). If FIFA are wanting to expand the sport, taking the World Cup to Australia is a very good means of doing that. The game in Australia has grown in recent years, the A-League is proving popular and the national team is doing fairly well.
Australia isn't exactly a stranger to hosting big events, the only thing harming them is the fact that at present, most of the main venues are all clustered in Sydney and Melbourne.
Yes, here in England we could host the tournament tomorrow (and still leave out stadia that puts much of the world to shame) but I'm not sure that FIFA wants that.