Australia to host AFC Asian Cup 2015

Australia will host the AFC Asian Cup 2015 after the Asian Football Confederation Executive Committee unanimously voted to support its bid.

Australia will host the AFC Asian Cup 2015 after the Asian Football Confederation Executive Committee unanimously voted to support its bid today.

Football Federation Australia Chairman Frank Lowy, AC, said the AFC Asian Cup was the biggest sporting event in Asia and a wonderful opportunity to showcase Australia to Asia and the rest of the world.

“Australia has a long history of hosting fantastic sporting events and the benefits for Australia to host an event of this kind will not only leave a strong legacy for football in Australia, but also cement Australia-s place in the Asian economic community,” Mr Lowy said.

“This is a terrific boost to football in Australia at all levels and it comes as our Qantas Socceroos, the highest ranked team in Asia, are only days away from competing in the AFC Asian Cup 2011 here in Qatar.

“Australians are about to see just how big this tournament is with an expected television audience of more than one billion watching sixteen quality teams compete from some of the biggest nations in Asia including Japan, Korea, India and China.

“It is a great coup to host this event and it will be a catalyst for taking the game forward in Australia over the next few years.”

Mr Lowy said he wanted to thank the Federal Government as well as the governments of Queensland, New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory and Victoria for supporting the bid.

The tournament will be held in January, 2015 and will be played in stadiums selected from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra and the Gold Coast.

It is estimated the 32 matches will attract between 438,000 and 510,000 spectators with the Qantas Socceroos expected to play at least one group game in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

FFA has proposed Melbourne to host the opening match and Sydney to host the final.

It is expected to bring in up to 45,000 visitors, create up to 1,000 jobs and boost GDP by $23 million.

FFA CEO Ben Buckley said the hosting of the AFC Asian Cup 2015 will be a key focus over the next four years along with other key strategic areas of FFA-s operations.

These include representative national teams, particularly the Qantas Socceroos- qualification campaign for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, further consolidation and strengthening of the Hyundai A-League, National Youth League and Westfield W-League and continued implementation of the national football development program at both the talented player and community levels.

Federal Government support of these strategic priorities has enabled significant investment in recent years including important initiatives in growth areas such as women-s and indigenous football. These strategic priorities will form the basis of a joint review and the AFC Asian Cup will provide a catalyst for continuing the growth of football.

“The strength and diversity of the game in Australia across all these strategic areas was a feature of our bid and our presentation to the AFC” Mr Buckley said.

“We are confident that the popularity of the game and its broad supporter base across the community will ensure the AFC Asian Cup in Australia will set the benchmark for this tournament for years to come.”

FACTS: • Some 655 million viewers tuned in to the AFC Asian Cup 2007 (held in Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia) with 748 million viewing the 2004 edition (held in China) • There was a 434 per cent growth in broadcast coverage hours between 2004 (902 hours) and 2007 (3916 hours) • Domestically, 2.5 million viewers tuned into Fox Sports over the 160 hours of the AFC Asian Cup 2007 telecast • The Australia v Japan quarter-final broke Pay Television records with an average audience of 419,000 throughout the match • FFA has undertaken extensive government liaison coordinated through the Football World Cup Bid Government Taskforce (established for both the 2022 FIFA World Cup and AFC Asian Cup 2015 Bids) • 32 matches (24 group stage / 8 knockout) will be played across four (4) States and Territories (QLD, NSW, VIC, ACT) during the 23 day long tournament, currently scheduled for January 2015 • A number of ancillary events will also be conducted in Australia including the Preliminary Draw, Final Draw, Opening and Closing Ceremonies and Team Workshops • The eight (8) Stadiums proposed in the Bid Book include Suncorp Stadium, Skilled Park, ANZ Stadium, Sydney Football Stadium, Parramatta Stadium, Canberra Stadium, Etihad Stadium and AAMI Park • AFC requires a minimum of four (4) and a maximum of five (5) Stadiums and in conjunction with FFA will undertake a Stadium selection process following the announcement of the Host Country • More than 27 per cent of Australia-s overseas-born population is from Asia and 24 per cent of Australia-s longstanding (arrived before 2002) migrants are Asian-born. • Sixteen teams from the 46 member associations of the Asian Football Confederation will participate.