Pressure on council to rethink Cup bid

James Musa. Photo / Dean Purcell

Hamilton City Council is facing growing pressure to reconsider bidding for hosting rights for the soccer's 2015 under-20s World Cup.

The Waikato Chamber of Commerce and the Waikato/Bay of Plenty Football Association have sent the mayor and city councillors letters urging the cash-strapped council to reconsider its November decision.

But the New Zealand Football Association, which is running the tender process for Fifa, is unsure whether it will accept late bids even if the council does a u-turn.

Following a lengthy debate the council voted 7-4 against putting in a bid because of an estimated $809,000 cost to the city plus in-kind costs such as office space and staff time. But the council is now starting to discuss reconsidering the proposal at the first full council meeting of the year on February 9.

The regional association had indicated to the council that up to 50 per cent of the host costs could be funded by the business community.

A bid to be a category-three host - securing three pool matches and one round-16 match - would bring in an economic benefit of between $2.9 million and $3.5 million. The successful host could also expect about 9000 international visitors and 115 international media. But the council has learnt that other cities put forward bids without committing any money at this stage.

Waikato/Bay of Plenty Football Association chief executive Cameron Mitchell said the association's stakeholders and the business community have indicated support and there was potential for funding sources outside council including sponsorship.

"Hamilton's the fourth largest city in New Zealand and for it not to be involved in the third largest sporting event in 2015 would be a bit of a shame.

"Ultimately we are looking at letting the public and community decide if it is actually worthwhile. That's why some of the costs we can revisit and also look at other ways to skin the cat and investment required to host the tournament."

Accommodation and hospitality providers have also pledged their support to the bid as they stand to benefit - largely from bookings from teams and their crews.

However, the council may have missed its chance as the deadline for bids closed on November 30, 2011. Fifa Under 20 World Cup 2015 interim project manager Peter O'Hara said New Zealand Football was assessing the current bids that had met deadline and would have a better idea in February about whether they would meet their requirements.

"It's possible at some stage a city might or might not be able to enter the process. We were looking for between six and eight host cities and we certainly have sufficient numbers to cover that."

The association invited 12 cities including Hamilton, Whangarei and Dunedin to bid for hosting rights but would not confirm how many had accepted the offer. A shortlist of the successful applicants would be drawn up by March and the successful cities would be put forward for Fifa's approval by June.