Too late Mr Haigh!

ON ABC TV’s Offsiders a few weeks ago panellist Gideon Haigh likened holding the FIFA World Cup in Qatar to having it Adelaide.

By coincidence I spent a few days in Adelaide recently, between Haigh’s quip and the announcement that the 2022 World Cup would be held in Qatar.

Clearly Haigh was onto something and the problem with Australia’s World Cup bid was that it reached too far. Australia was too big for the FIFA executive committee members to get their heads around. An Adelaide bid would have been successful.

The city already has three stadiums… the beautiful and redeveloped Adelaide Oval, Football Park and Hindmarsh Stadium the home of Adelaide United.

Stadiums could also be built in the Barossa Valley (Nurioopta has a nice oval, I played a game of cricket there in 1980), Clare Valley and the McLaren Vale. In 1971 the little town of Myponga hosted Black Sabbath… a World Cup game would be no trouble.

http://australianrules.com.au/news/760/78/Scoreboard-Myponga

After the soccer tournament any unwanted stadiums could be shipped off to places like Perth where it’s been hard to get anything done on account of the mining boom.

Adelaide is similar in population to Qatar, has the best airport in Australia, a history of hosting international sporting events (Grand Prix, Tour Down Under) and was the home of our greatest sportsman.

Gideon Haigh should have spoken up sooner.

About Les Everett

A Footy Almanac veteran, Les Everett is the author of Gravel Rash: 100 Years of Goldfields Football and Fremantle Dockers: An Illustrated History. He is the footyalmanac.com WAFL correspondent and uses the money he makes from that role to pay for his expensive websites australianrules.com.au and talkingfrankie.com and fund the extravagant Vin Maskell at scoreboardpressure.com

Comments

  1. Les, that new airport in Adelaide has so much spare room they could hold the whole World Cup there.

  2. ADELAIDE!!! Have you taken leave of your senses?
    South Australia…….. Alexander Downer, Christopher Pyne, Don Dunstan,
    The Snowtown murders, the holden camira, Barossa Pearl, meg Lees, white poiners (not the good ones).
    the water….

    South Australia is the source of all evil….Lord Voldermort used to hang out there.

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