Like many Australians, I tuned in to Fox Sports on Tuesday night to watch with interest as Australia defeated Iraq to qualify for next year’s FIFA World Cup.
But it was also with more than a little envy that I watched the game; played in front of a capacity crowd and watched by the third highest total in Foxtel’s history. Men, women, and children from all walks of life hugged and cheered with the sheer joy of seeing Australia qualify for the biggest sporting showpiece there is. Some cried. Cried!
I dream of a day when someday our international game can inspire that kind of passion and conjure up such raw emotion. At the risk of sounding like a certain insufferable bastard of monstrous proportions, wouldn’t it be good to someday see Lebanon v Jamaica played in England in front of a crowd that resembles something other than a Greater Western Sydney home crowd?
For all the accusations of corruption and all the laughing about the diving and the general ponciness of the game, FIFA has got one thing right – it recognizes the vital importance of the international game and has the brass balls to back up its beliefs. The sport of rugby league could learn a little from the world’s most popular sport.
#1 – It’s a dictatorship… almost
Can you imagine a world in which the RLIF dictated terms to the NRL? Maybe. But one where the NRL actually listened? Unheard of!
Let’s face it – the management of most NRL clubs are happy to be a big fish in a tiny pond. They’ve no interest in furthering the growth of the game beyond their own phantom territory – let alone beyond the shores of this sea girt land.
FIFA rules with an iron fist and confederations, competitions, and clubs fall in line or face exile. While this power is not always used for good, more often than not the game benefits from FIFA having such power.
No more players being pulled out of camp and no more whining about the length of the season. Sport run from the top (international football) to the bottom (clubs): sport run as it should be.
#2 – Make everyone qualify
How exciting were those World Cup Qualifiers last year? Oh, you didn’t see them?
I don’t think anybody not present did. That’s a problem for another discussion.
The fact is, you devalue your showpiece event when you allow twelve of the fourteen teams to automatically qualify. The FIFA World Cup allows one team automatic qualification: the host. It previously also allowed the last winner in. That’s it.
And that’s how it should be! We all know Australia will qualify, but how much more exciting would it be to actually watch them do it? How much better for other nations would it be to have some exposure to the Australian juggernaut before the tournament proper?
And on another note: invite (and help) every nation to participate in qualification! With two spots on the line for 2013, a total of seven teams participated across two play-off zones for a spot.
That’s twelve teams out of 31 registered nations. Or 74 if you include observers.
We all know that it’s unlikely Brazil will make the Cup, but encourage them to try! Does anybody think Timor-Leste has a snowball’s chance in hell of making it to the FIFA World Cup? No. But they’re afforded the opportunity all the same.
Rugby league isn’t a cash rich game, it’s true. But proper organization and funding assistance could allow all member nations to chase the dream – even if, realistically, they’ll never make achieve it.
It builds up the tournament’s prestige to have more would-be qualifiers, it exposes all teams to greater opposition, and it creates the illusion of a global game. Rugby union not is as global as it presents itself as being.
#3 – Share the tournament
Oh look! This tournament is in England (the same as 2000) and the next one looks like Australia/New Zealand (almost the same as 2008).
How can the game be expected to expand if it’s only ever played in its purported strongholds? Take the tournament somewhere new and help people to fall in love with the game.
I read South Africa want 2018. Why not help them to host it instead of rehashing a World Cup we’ve seen before?
FIFA don’t get it all right, but they know how to make a World Cup seem global. Bugger rugby, it’s football we should be emulating.