Soccer: MacGowan signed for youth world cup

By Terry Maddaford

Bill MacGowan will be in the office, sleeves rolled up and ready to start work first thing this morning determined the 1999 World Youth Soccer Championships will be a huge success.

Months of behind-the-scenes bickering ended last night with MacGowan signing a contract with the '99 Company as organiser of the November 10-27 New Zealand-based under-17 championships.

"It is a tremendous challenge - we have to squeeze two years' work into 10 months - but I'm sure we can do it," said MacGowan, whose last contact with soccer was as Soccer New Zealand chief executive. "This is the rebirth of the sport in New Zealand. It is the biggest kick-start soccer has had in years. It is the biggest thing to happen in soccer here since we qualified for the 1982 World Cup.

"We will be quick to assure Fifa and Oceania we are on track."

In handing the reins to MacGowan, New Zealand Soccer chief executive Bob Patterson said he was delighted that MacGowan had accepted the role.

"We can now take a positive approach and concentrate on hosting a successful tournament - one which all New Zealanders can be proud of."

Of the on-going wrangle with former All White Chris Turner, which this week went to the High Court, Patterson said: "We [NZS] had little option but to go to court to defend our point of view."

Patterson clarified the court ruling thus: "The injunction from Chris Turner was withdrawn in its entirety as it should have been. Mr Turner's claim that he had a contract [to organise the tournament] does exist but there is nothing we can do about it. We at New Zealand Soccer strenuously deny there is a contract.

"In his judgment, Justice Anderson said ` ... it is a question of whether discussions with Mr Turner ever went beyond the point of treaty ...' which means did discussions between the parties ever go beyond initial negotiations."

NZS chairman Dave Lamont said the association was appointing MacGowan as chief executive [of the organising company] and "getting on with it."

Lamont said his council's attitude was to back MacGowan who will implement decisions made by the '99 Company.

"The council will not be meddling in those decisions but will have an appointee(s) on the board of the new body although those appointments will not be made until after the new board is known at the annual meeting on Sunday week.

"If that board and Bill MacGowan see fit to involve Chris Turner, it will be up to them," said Lamont, "but as far as I'm concerned I want to take New Zealand Soccer as far as possible out of the equation.

"As I have said all along, the council did not believe Chris Turner had a contract. I have seen the letter - I wrote much of it - he had and part four said once he had satisfied the first three conditions we would then move to working out the basis of a contract.

"I'm sure Bill MacGowan has the ability and drive to do the job. He is a committed soccer person. I have spoken to Oceania secretary-general Josephine King and told her we have appointed Bill and we are getting on with the job."

When approached by the New Zealand Herald last night, Turner said: "I have no comment to make at all."

MacGowan sees three distinct areas needing urgent attention for the tournament, which is scheduled to be played in Auckland, Napier, Christchurch and Dunedin.

"There is the organisation of sponsors, accreditation and the stadiums; the review of all budgets; and the actual running of the tournament which will involve a huge number of volunteers," said MacGowan. "We want to involve as many people in soccer's family as possible."