Former NZ cricketer Martin Snedden, who led the 2011 Rugby World Cup's organizing committee, said that a bid from New Zealand to co-host the FIFA World Cup in '26 or '30 could prove "a pipe dream," but the "ambitious country is pressing on with the bold plans," according to Greg Stutchbury of REUTERS. Snedden has "floated the possibility of staging football's global showpiece with Australia." He said that the suggestion was "still very much in its embryonic stages," but he felt it was "imperative the country capitalised on hosting two highly successful world sporting events in the last four years." Snedden: "This is a big idea and ultimately it might prove to be a pipe dream, but we have come so far and these are the types of things we should be prepared to be examining. Even if ultimately we choose that we can't do it, these are the sorts of opportunities that we are good enough to be looking at and taking seriously." A potential bid had been "broached with central government, New Zealand Football and Sports New Zealand," but they were "yet to approach Australia," Snedden added. He envisaged if a joint bid went ahead, Australia would host 70% of the tournament, "with two or three of the eight pools in New Zealand, with the four main centres of Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin earmarked as venues." Football Federation Australia, which lost out to Qatar to stage the 2022 World Cup, declined to comment (REUTERS, 4/13). WORLD FOOTBALL INSIDER's Mark Bisson reported FFA said that it will "not team up with New Zealand for a FIFA World Cup bid." The ambition "seemed destined to failure right from the start." NZ PM John Key said that a World Cup bid would be "a hell of a lot of work" and conceded the government had done "zero work on it." He added, "Man, it would be expensive." FFA said that it would have "no part in a joint World Cup bid." Co-hosting the World
Cup across two confederations -- Australia is part of the AFC and New
Zealand part of Oceania -- is "unlikely to float FIFA's boat" (WORLD FOOTBALL INSIDER, 4/13).
