Australia shows FIFA its best

Led by Chile Football Federation President Harold Mayne-Nicholls and including CEO of 2010 South Africa Local Organising Committee Danny Jordaan, FIFA Head of Event Management Jurgen Muller, FIFA Marketing representative David Fowler, FIFA Competitions representative Julio Avellar and FIFA Media Officer Wolfgang Eichler, the delegation will be in Australia for three days.

“For us it is a real pleasure to be here in your beautiful country and we are sure that during this stay we will learn a lot about your people, your Bid book and your ability to hold big events,” Mayne-Nicholls said.

“We hope also that you will be in a position to ask us all the questions you need to resolve before we write the final report to the FIFA Executive Committee members.

“We will do our best to be as objective as possible and record all of the questions and answers the right way.

“Thanks for a beautiful welcome and for being with us in this beautiful city.”

Australia is the third of nine inspection stops over two months for FIFA, ahead of the December announcement of which nations will host the 2018 or 2022 World Cup tournaments.

"This FIFA inspection is really important. Australia has done the hard work on the Bid Book but this is about directly showing the FIFA representatives we are serious in our quest to host this sporting event, that we are prepared and enthusiastic in making sure we do everything we can to welcome them and point out to them what a great event this would be in Australia," Senator Ellis said.

Ten host cities have been selected as part of the Bid under Australia’s nationwide hosting proposal that will see World Cup matches in six states and territories.