Whangarei vying to be U20 Fifa host

Whangarei's success hosting Rugby World Cup games shows it is more than capable of being a host city for one of the biggest sporting events on the planet - the Fifa 2015 U-20 World Cup - a top NZ Football official says.

Whangarei wants to be one of the six to eight host cities and has to have its bidding documents in by the end of the month. Also in the running are Auckland, Christchurch, Dunedin, Hamilton, Invercargill, Napier, Nelson, New Plymouth, Palmerston North, Rotorua and Wellington.

NZF's Under-20 World Cup interim project manager Peter O'Hara said NZF approached 13 cities, all of which hosted RWC games and/or teams.

Mr O'Hara, who was impressed when he was in Whangarei for the Tonga-Japan RWC game on September 21 said the cities approached already met the standards for RWC games.

"Whangarei has the facilities that are generally acceptable to host major sporting events," he said. "There are some different standards that Fifa requires that the RWC doesn't, but I believe the stadium in Whangarei performed fantastically for the RWC and it was tremendous to be there to see the great job that was done by the council and locals alike.

"The atmosphere was amazing.

"You can take it as read that the stadium in Whangarei is perfectly suited for what we would be looking for. And having Cobham Oval right next door adds to the great facilities."

Mr O'Hara warned there would need to be some financial commitment from the council, if its bid was successful.

NZF would shortlist cities and Fifa officials would visit each one before making a final decision, probably next June. He said the Whangarei and wider Northland community could do their bit by getting behind the bid.

The 2015 men's under-20 football World Cup is being held in New Zealand for the first time, with 24 teams involved.

If Whangarei is successful, the event would pump millions of dollars into the district economy, bring the next generation of football superstars to Northland, and give the region unprecedented global exposure.

The U-20 world cup is Fifa's largest tournament after the Football World Cup. It is broadcast in more than 200 countries to an audience of about 500 million.

RWC 2011 head Martin Snedden had said Whangarei's success in hosting RWC games stood the city in good stead for its U-20 bid.