Six months ago, any suggestion this country could co-host the Football World Cup with Australia would have been dismissed as the stuff of idle dreams. The event would have been seen widely as too big for New Zealand, while Australians remained chastened by the dismal failure of their bid for the 2022 World Cup. Much has changed in that short period, however. Consequently, Martin Snedden deserves full marks for the timing of his effort to galvanise a joint bid for either the 2026 or 2030 World Cup.
The most obvious occurrence has been the two countries' superb co-hosting of the Cricket World Cup. This proved they could work well together to deliver an event that exceeded expectation on every level. It also suggested they could make the step up to the biggest sporting event outside the Olympics. Indeed, Australia had already lifted its game in hosting football's Asian Cup in January. Its success helped to salve many of the wounds associated with the thwarted 2022 bid.
That failure cut deeply. Australia was a hot favourite to win the hosting rights, and A$46 million of taxpayer funding was thrown into the cause. But its chances were damaged severely by the obstructionist tactics adopted by rival code Aussie Rules. Australia ended up getting just one of the Fifa executive committee's 22 votes as Qatar won the rights. To add ignominy to insult, Michael Garcia's report on the bidding process for Fifa found Australia's bid had been unethical. In an attempt to influence the voting it had, among other things, invested $500,000 in a football stadium upgrade in Trinidad and Tobago. That money was allegedly stolen by corrupt Fifa executive Jack Warner.
In the succeeding five years, Fifa has been busy building bridges. Sepp Blatter, the governing body's president, has said it was "an unfortunate omission in sporting history" that Australia had not staged the World Cup, and that it "more than deserved" to host it. Football Federation Australia, in turn, has indicated its willingness to re-enter the fray by contemplating a bid for the 2019 Women's World Cup. This would advance its credentials, just as those of this country will benefit from a successful staging of Fifa's Under-20 World Cup in May-June.
The agenda for a co-hosting bid proposed by Mr Snedden, the head of the 2011 Rugby World Cup organising committee and now chief executive of Duco Events, would build astutely on this new-found positivity. He envisages, first, getting New Zealand stakeholders on board with the idea before convincing Australia of the wisdom of a joint bid. The first part is vitally important. Fifa is keen to support football in particular regions, as shown by the World Cups in the US and South Africa. But it must be convinced both countries will totally embrace the event and use it to build the game. There can be no repeat of the Aussie Rules debacle.