The Sun-Herald

Australia's Bid for 2011

Football in Asia is all about politics, whether we're ready or not.

We're about to learn this over the next few days as Australia prepares a sudden and dramatic move to host the 2011 Asian Cup and plays China in a World Cup qualifier on Wednesday.

The machinations behind the Asian Cup bid are intriguing especially as Qatar was announced as the next host only last July.

The oil-rich emirate, home to Asian Football Confederation president Mohamed Bin Hamman, was also the only bidder.

But something is up at AFC's headquarters in Kuala Lumpur and the tournament's organising committee meets on Monday to make a few decisions.

A Qatari pull out is considered so likely that, prudently, AFC has already placed Australia on a stand-by list of alternative hosts.

The situation is so advanced that several Australian state governments - Queensland, NSW, and Victoria - have already agreed in principle to fund guarantees of up to $30 million.

One reason that Australia is so eager to pick up the slack is that hosting the 2011 Asian Cup will be a catapult for its 2018 World Cup bid.

The 2018 host will be announced late in 2011 and if the Asian Cup were to be held in Australia that same year it will take place in January.

That opens a window for FFA to show FIFA executives just what a World Cup in Australia would be like.

These latest developments provide a wrap-around to Australia's upcoming historic World Cup qualifier against China on Wednesday.

Politics is inescapable in sport, even if many prefer to ignore the intricate and complex relationship.

Deposed Thai dictator Thaksin Shinawatra recently returned from exile in the UK to face justice in Thailand.

Somewhat perversely, he was accompanied home by some Manchester City players, employees of the football club he owns in England.

"Thaksin is a good bloke," one player suggested to Thai media.

Forget allegations by an organisation like Human Rights Watch that suggest Shinawatra was a "human rights abuser of the worst kind". If a Manchester City fringe player says his boss is alright then it must be true.

So the Socceroos travel to Kunming at a time when China is hogging headlines over how it deals with unrest in Tibet rather than how its football team will cater for a resurgent Harry Kewell.

Throw in the weapons that China sells to Sudan that are then used for genocide in Darfur - as well as Chinese investment in Sudan's oil industry - and it's fair to say our Wednesday rivals have something of an image problem.

These issues are serious enough to have provoked debate over the merits or otherwise of a boycott of this year's Beijing Olympics although the Australian Olympic Committee and athletes like swimmer Grant Hackett are not entertaining the idea.

Hackett may, unwittingly, have a point in saying a boycott is a waste of time.

While the Chinese government expels pesky foreign journalists from Tibet and America's FBI investigates alleged cyber sabotage against websites attempting to publicise the Chinese government's crackdown in Tibet, sports events like World Cup qualifiers and the Olympics help draw attention to broader, more serious, and complex issues.

Multinational and multimillion dollar sponsors are now forced to recognise that controversial politics and sport do mix and it's not always a pleasant cocktail.

Olympic sponsors like Coca-Cola and McDonalds believe an oppressive Chinese government is an issue for government not corporations but apparel giant Adidas recently released a statement that it was concerned about violence in Tibet and would continue to monitor news on Darfur.

That means very little in reality but the radar is turned on even if a commercial boycott of the Olympics is not on the agenda.

"We should, however, not lose sight of the fact that the Olympics is being held to celebrate sports," added the Adidas statement.

That may well be true but games like Australia's World Cup qualifier against China also has wider context than whether Harry Kewell will get 90 minutes or Michael Beauchamp will start alongside Lucas Neill.

It's part of being involved in the so-called "world game" and why football will play a key role in Australia's international business and political interests, now and for a long time into the future.

More information:
Dream For Darfur (not suitable for the Chinese government)

Save Darfur
(Alleged target of Chinese cyber sabotage)

Think of panda bears when you read about Tibet...