29 OCTOBER 2009
Football the most popular sport for Aussie boys
The football phenomenon continues to spread across the country with the Australian Bureau of
Statistics reporting it as the most popular sport for boys.
In the 12 months to April 2009, there were approximately 2.7 million children aged 5 to 14 years in
Australia within the scope of the ABS survey. An estimated 1.7 million (63%) children participated
in at least one organised sport outside of school hours, in the 12 months to April 2009.
The most popular sport for boys in this age group was outdoor football with 20% (or 277,800)
participating, followed by swimming at 17% (or 240,100) and Australian Rules Football at 16%
(223,700).
Bonita Mersiades, the Head of Corporate and Public Affairs at Football Federation Australia today
welcomed the figures, “The ABS data shows just how much Aussie children love football and how
prominent the sport is in Australian culture today.”
“We continue to be pleased with how many children are embracing the sport and getting
involved.”
“The future of football in Australia is exceptionally bright and we’re delighted with its popularity
with boys and girls across Australia.”
“We believe children will play a crucial role in putting Australia’s case forward to hosting the World
Cup in 2018 or 2022, so we are offering young football enthusiasts the chance to be a part of
history and be involved in the ‘Come Play! campaign,” Ms Mersiades said.
Eight lucky children will have the chance to win a trip to South Africa in early December to help
bring the FIFA World Cup to Australia.
With the experience of a lifetime, one winner from each state will be appointed a FFA ‘Come
Play!’ World Cup ‘emissary’ and travel to Cape Town to be part of the team that helps put
Australia’s case forward to host the FIFA World Cup in 2018 or 2022.
The FIFA World Cup is the largest single sporting event in the world – bigger than the Olympic
Games. If successful, the FIFA World Cup Finals will see Australia host more than 750,000
overseas visitors with around 900 million people from 214 countries expected to tune in to watch
the final.
To be a part of history, children can simply tell the FFA in 300 words or less why they think
Australia should host the FIFA World Cup. Children can also say why Australia should host the
games through pictures as well as words.
Applications can be submitted by e-mail to comeplay2018-2022@footballaustralia.com.au or
by regular post to ‘Come Play!’, FFA, Locked Bag A4071, Sydney South, NSW 1235. Entries
close on November 10, 2009.
ENDS
For further information and to organise an interview, please contact: Kate McQuestin on 0419 591 150
Facts and figures on the FIFA World Cup:
The FIFA World Cup is the largest single sporting event in the world – it’s bigger than the Olympics
Games.
The FIFA World Cup tournament has been running for almost eight decades, occurring every four
years.
The next FIFA World Cup will be in South Africa in 2010 followed by Brazil in 2014.
The FIFA World Cup is hosted by a country (or countries), rather a city.
The FIFA World Cup generally comprises 64 games.
The Asian region, which Australia is part of, is the fastest growing region in world football and the
region with the most potential and capacity to grow the game.
26.3 billion people tuned into watch the 2006 FIFA World Cup around the world – the largest
television viewing came from the Asian region (approximately 35% of the cumulative television
audience).
To put this in perspective the Australia 2003 Rugby World Cup had a global audience of 3.4 billion.
It is anticipated that the cumulative television audience for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa
will reach 40 billion people.
The last FIFA World Cup, held in Germany, attracted 2 million international visitors, 3.3 million
spectators, almost 19,000 accredited media and $2 billion in worldwide retails sales of licensed
merchandise.
There are eight bidders for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, including:
o
Australia
o
Belgium/Netherlands
o
England
o
Indonesia
o
Japan
o
Portugal/Spain
o
Russia
o
United States
For the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the same eight countries are also bidding. They are joined by Qatar
and Korea Republic, bringing the total number of bidders to 10. The two winning bidders will earn
the right to host the FIFA World Cup, in either June/July 2018 or June/July 2022, as well as the
FIFA Confederations Cup (held in the preceding year).
It is not possible for two countries from the same confederation to be consecutive hosts. For
example, if England was to win in 2018, no other European bidder is eligible for 2022.
Bidding countries must demonstrate:
o
Compliance with the bidding process, bidding registration and bidding agreement
o
Anticipated impact on the game, and on society as a whole, in both the host country and
abroad
o
Support for the bid from the Government, the general public and football community
o
Infrastructure and management capabilities to host the tournament
o
An innovative and meaningful legacy programme for after the event
Further information on Australia’s bid to host the World Cup can be seen at www.australia2018-2022.com.au
NEWS 
