It is hard to work out which part of FIFA’s reported deal with Visit Saudi is more shocking.
That the biggest global sporting event to hit Australia since the Sydney Olympics could be used to promote tourism in another country; that FIFA could view as a net positive the pairing of its flagship women’s tournament with a regime that oppresses its women citizens; or that Football Australia and Football New Zealand, FIFA’s partners as hosts of this year’s World Cup, could have been blindsided by the move.
Qatar has expressed interest in hosting a Test in the 2025 British and Irish Lions tour of Australia.Credit:Getty
It is a cautionary tale for sporting bodies around the country as Australia approaches the meaty middle order of its golden decade of sport, with two of the three biggest global sporting events – the Olympics and the Rugby World Cup – headed here over the next nine years.
From early indications it will not be the last time a national organisation will have to wrestle with the intersection of sport, politics and culture in the quest to balance revenue with the values of its game.
Rugby Australia has already fielded informal interest from Qatar in hosting a Test in the 2025 British and Irish Lions tour, an event that fields the best of English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh rugby and visits Australia once every 12 years.
The conversation progressed no further than a corridor chat and RA sources said there was no interest from Australia in selling off one of the three Tests to an international venue. RA instead wants to enliven the Lions concept with a mid-week invitational between a Lions side and a combined ANZAC XV.
The lead-in to this year’s FIFA women’s World Cup has been rocked by controversy.Credit:Brook Mitchell
But it is an indication of what is on offer when governing bodies take their events to market and, in Football Australia’s case, what happens when decision-making is complicated by joint venture agreements between global bodies (FIFA) and national bodies (FA, NZFA).
Rod Eddington, the former British Airways boss last week unveiled as chairman of Australia’s 2027 Rugby World Cup operating company, told the Herald there was more pressure than ever to deliver a scandal-free tournament.
“It affects everything, it affects sponsorship – what entities are prepared to sponsor things – it affects attendance at games, so you need to think very carefully about these issues,” Eddington said.
“But you need to speak to specifics. When you ask me a about a particular involvement with a particular country, I have an instinct but I want to see what’s being proposed before I give you a value judgement on whether it’s a good thing or a not so good thing.
“…Sporting bodies who don’t take these things seriously discover pretty quickly that they should.”
2027 Rugby World Cup chairman Rod Eddington
“At the end of the day on those sorts of matters, as big as the Rugby World Cup is, it’s even bigger than that, it’s about the game globally, who it chooses to support and where it chooses to play. That’s what World Rugby is there for and that’s what RA is there for, to decide what alignments it’s going to make and how it’s going to go about its business.”
World Rugby will be majority owners of the company set up to run the 2027 tournament. Major-majority, if you will, with the global governing body expected to control about 80 per cent of the joint venture in a deal being finalised in coming weeks.
RA sources said there was no danger of a FIFA-esque shock and, in an interview with the Herald last week, World Rugby chief executive Alan Gilpin was at pains to point out the collaborative spirit in which it had engaged with hosts RA since the tournament was awarded to Australia.
But the events that have rocked the game globally in recent weeks prove scrutiny on governing bodies is more forensic than ever. They also suggest that a sport’s fans and grassroots players – and not its chief finance officers – will be the judge and jury on the legacy of a major event.
Suspended World Rugby vice-chairman Bernard Laporte (right), in happier days with 2027 World Cup chairman Rod Eddington and RA chairman Hamish McLennan. Credit:Getty
One of the most influential figures in international rugby, Bernard Laporte, is in the process of resigning from his posts in French rugby and World Rugby after being found guilty of corruption and influence peddling in the exercising of his power. It is a major embarrassment for the hosts of this year’s World Cup, which in most other metrics is on track to be the sport’s most successful tournament yet.
In Wales, former Welsh Rugby Union chief executive Steve Phillips resigned last week after accusations of misogyny, sexism, racism and homophobia were levelled at the governing body in a cultural reckoning that has rocked one of the founding unions of the game.
Even in England, where the national union sits on cash reserves deep enough to appease the most disgruntled stakeholder, the RFU could face a vote of no-confidence from its grassroots members over rule changes handed down unilaterally in recent weeks.
Notwithstanding FIFA’s apparent master-servant relationship with its tournament hosts, Australia has an opportunity to present itself as the most intelligent, progressive and inclusive host of global sport over the next decade. If it learns from the mistakes of its rival codes and puts the values of its audiences on an even footing with the mighty dollar.
“It’s not only true of sport, it’s true of everything,” Eddington said. “It’s true of how you run your businesses, how you run your sports, how you run your cultural entities, issues around museums and what they hold. Should the Elgin marbles be in the British National Museum or should they be [in Greece]?
“These issues are far greater than just rugby or just sport. They’re community issues. My sense is that sporting bodies who don’t take these things seriously discover pretty quickly that they should.”
