Analysis: The Lowy Factor is Crucial for World Cup Bid from Australia

(WFI) Australia may not have been a force to be reckoned with when it entered the race to host the FIFA World Cup. But there are good reasons why that’s changed and at the top of the list is ‘The Lowy Factor’.

Frank Lowy, Football Federation Australia chairman and 2018/2022 bid leader, kicked off his business career selling salami before building what has ultimately become the multi-billion dollar Westfield shopping mall empire.

Against that backdrop, the challenge of steering a successful World Cup bid might seem a walk in the park. If it is, you wouldn’t know because Lowy has been rolling up his sleeves and getting on with all the arm-twisting action at gatherings of football business executives around the globe.

At the Asian Football Confederation annual congress earlier this year, Lowy was a sight to behold, pinning down the world’s most influential football leaders during every break in the program, making sure they knew Australia was ready, willing and worthy of a World Cup.

Lowy is only interested in contesting the hosting rights for FIFA’s showcase to win, and only to win.

There is more urgency and determination in this latest mission for one simple reason – he is not getting any younger. When FIFA’s 24-man executive committee meets next December to decide who hosts the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, Lowy will be 80.

While there’s a long way before the contest wraps, the good news for Lowy is that his gritty determination pervades his bid team, which has hardly set a foot wrong since the start of the campaign.

The latest two additions to Australia’s armoury could be precisely what it needs to get over the line.

Controversial but accomplished spin doctor Peter Hargitay, a man closely linked to FIFA president Sepp Blatter, has been retained through his company ECN. So too has Andreas Abold, whose skills in organizing the bid book and advising on final presentations helped win the last two World Cup bids.

"FFA has appointed a number of consultants to support various elements of the bid including two international consultants with significant experience in the football world and specifically in bids for the FIFA World Cup,” Australia’s communications chief Bonita Mersiades told World Football Insider.

“ECN provides advice on international relations and advocacy, while Abold is assisting with the production of the bid book and advising on the final presentation to FIFA in December 2010.”

Rival sporting codes provide a challenge
It would be hard to imagine a clear run at goal for Australia’s bid, especially when the government has tipped in more than $42 million to become a key partner. The need to overcome such hurdles could also be a good thing – after all, how do you create heroes without enemies?

The latest diversion might leave some with the impression that the unity declared by Australia’s rival sporting codes and various state and territory governments in support of the World Cup bid is showing some cracks.

Scratch beneath the surface and a different story emerges. Reports sensationalizing the possibility of a two-week shutdown if the World Cup comes to Australia have mostly been driven by News Limited newspapers.

The Rupert Murdoch-controlled publisher is a commercial partner in rugby league’s NRL competition and its sports editors, particularly in New South Wales, are sensitive to the reality they are firmly embedded in a sport that is in decline, thanks to frequent sex, drink and drug scandals involving some of its star athletes.

That may explain why news of a mid-season disruption for rival sports has suddenly become news again.

Funding decisions relating to World Cup infrastructure are necessarily being made now to be detailed in the bid book being submitted in December this year to FIFA.

Continuing inter-governmental lobbying for a slice of the funding pie could also explain why some state and territory governments have not been showing as much enthusiasm for the World Cup as they had previously.

The Australian Capital Territory sports minister Andrew Barr was forced to retract earlier statements he had made suggesting a total withdrawal of support for the World Cup might be better for business in his part of the country.

Just in case any of Australia’s second-tier of decision-makers get any funny ideas about using the World Cup bid as a political football, the federal government has wasted no time establishing new measures to avoid unnecessary perceptions of governmental disunity.

It has appointed former Qantas chief Geoff Dixon and long-serving Olympic and sporting administrator, Ron Harvey, as envoys to liaise between the federal government and the state/territory governments on World Cup issues.

Rugby League and AFL bosses have maintained the pressure for financial compensation for the disruption to their respective seasons, an unashamedly opportunist strategy the nation’s sporting administrators have been utilizing for decades.

The petty grievances of rival codes couldn’t be further from the bigger picture in which Lowy has continued to operate as chief salesman of Australia’s bid.

His latest message aims to unite Asia behind its newest confederation member, Australia, while espousing the good business sense in FIFA awarding a World Cup to the region.

"The world football pendulum is moving [this] way... we are on the threshold of a historic and exciting era in which Asia will supercharge the growth of our game, not just here but around the world," Lowy told a football conference in Malaysia last week, in a repeat of comments he had made at another Asian event a month earlier.

"Within this historical context sits Australia – a country with a largely European heritage but now very much part of the region of Asia.

"But of all the integration with Asia, the most important in terms of Australia's bid to host the FIFA World Cup is that we are now part of the Asian Football Confederation and our football future, thankfully, is in step with that of the whole region."

Back home, Football Federation Australia was continuing its targeted marketing strategy, with each of the FIFA executive committee members in its sights.

Journalists from five countries – Egypt, Nigeria, Cyprus, England, and Korea – were in Australia last week to assess its credentials. Each of the nations they represent also has a voting member on the FIFA executive committee which will decide the two successful bids.

Better bet for 2022?
Now there are signs that Australia’s low-key, but effective, approach is starting to get noticed, with bookmakers such as William Hill having just upgraded odds for Australia snaring the 2018 World Cup, from 3-1 to 5-2.

That’s despite widely held sentiments it is a better bet for 2022, but came soon after another embarrassing debacle for favorites England, the resignation from the bid of Premier League chairman Dave Richards.

In a report published well before the high-profile departure, British newspaper, The Independent, gave Australia 3-1 odds of 2018 World Cup bid success, noting the recruitment of “top-class spin doctor Peter Hargitay, the fantastically connected Swiss-Hungarian former adviser to Blatter”.

Importantly, FIFA vice president Jack Warner gave Australia a boost in morale with comments he made at a function during the recent U-20 World Cup in Nigeria.

“Australia being allegedly 'far away' is a bit of a ridiculous statement,” Warner said.

“God created the world round for a reason: distance is relative to where you stand. And the Australian continent is nearer to two-thirds of the world's population than most other places. So what's the fuss?"

Warner continued with a recap of Australia’s major event hosting credentials – including of course, the Sydney 2000 Olympics, adding: “If there is a country that truly deserves to host the FIFA World Cup, then it is the island continent of Australia.”

“If you ask me, Australia has an excellent chance of succeeding with its bid,” said Warner, who controls three of the 13 executive committee votes needed for candidate nations to succeed.

With the second half of the campaign still to come, Lowy will be ready to swing his luxury cruisers and private jets into action. They provide the kind of hospitality that can persuade the decision-makers and distract them from any dirty tricks campaign from desperate rival bids.

Written by Anthony Stavrinos

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