22 NOVEMBER 2009
VICTORIAN GIRL TO HELP BRING WORLD CUP TO AUSTRALIA
Claudia Favata appointed World Cup emissary and off to South Africa
Football Federation Australia (FFA) today announced Claudia Favata as Victoria’s winner of the Come Write!
Come Play! Competition and appointed her to the role of FFA ‘Come Play!’ World Cup emissary.
As Victoria’s winner, 11-year-old Claudia will travel to Cape Town in South Africa in early December where
she will be part of the team that helps put Australia’s case forward to host the FIFA World Cup™ in 2018 or
2022.
The FFA called on children across the nation last month to tell them in 300 words or less why they think
Australia should host the FIFA World Cup™. Thousands of children used pictures as well as words to say
why Australia should host the games. However, there could only be one winner from each state.
Claudia won the competition in Victoria as the judges thought her entry best captured the spirit and passion
Australians have for the World Cup bid.
FFA CEO, Ben Buckley said he was impressed at the number and quality of entries the FFA received, “It
showed the huge community support behind the World Cup bid and is a fantastic illustration of the passion
Aussie kids have for football.”
“I congratulate Claudia on her win and hope she enjoys being a part of a significant event in Australian
history. The Cape Town event is an important part of the bid process as it is one of the few official
opportunities to present Australia’s bid before the international football community and media.”
“Children, as the future of football in Australia, will play a crucial role in putting our case across to host the
greatest show on earth.”
Claudia lives in Strathmore and is one of two children. She will travel to South Africa with her mother
Christine, FFA’s bid team and seven other World Cup emissaries - representing each state and territory of
Australia.
Claudia said she couldn’t wait to represent both Victoria and the country, “I have never been to South Africa
and I am looking forward to showing why Australia is the best place on earth to host the FIFA World Cup™.”
“I just love football. It’s a great game to watch and I love playing in the backyard.”
“I really want the World Cup to come here so we get better stadiums, bigger crowds, greater memberships
and more imports to our country. Aussies are united behind the game. It would be the best game in the world
meeting the best country in the world – Australia,” Claudia said.
Proud mother, Christine Favata said, “This is such a great honour. We’re just so excited. This is a fantastic
competition. As soon as Claudia saw it, she got all the photos from where we’ve attended games out to help
tell her story.”
“It used to be all about other sports, but the last FIFA World Cup™ in Germany changed that. They are the
heroes that my children follow.”
“As a mum, I am thrilled about this, as football players are great role models to children of today. The
network of families and friends in the football community is also so strong and I think there is no better place
in the world to host the FIFA World Cup™,” Mrs Favata said.
The FIFA World Cup™ is the largest single sporting event in the world – bigger than the Olympic Games. If
successful, the FIFA World Cup™ will see Australia host almost 1m overseas visitors and would generate
$3.9 billion in direct expenditure and more than 74,000 full-time jobs.
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 FIFA World Cup™ can be seen at www.australia2018-
2022.com.au
NEWS 
