“We can compete on a stadium to stadium basis and we are more than confident of our ability in a commercial sense and in a setting and facility sense,” he is reported to have said. “However, we cannot compete with governments and if the New South Wales government chooses not to become involved in major events there isn’t much that we, as a stadium, can do about that.”
The MCG stadium was backed by Steve Bracks’ Labour government. It entered into negotiations with Soccer Australia 18 months ago and offered an incentive package that secured the qualifier and a following friendly game against France.
sportbusiness.com has previously reported that Australia and New Zealand Banking Group is owed about A$125million ($65.2m) from Stadium Australia Group and has given the group until September 30 to prove it is still a viable business. It has until this date to cough up the A$65m ($33.1m) construction costs owed to the bank.
But the dearth of events being held at Stadium Australia may make it difficult for them to pay back the money. Stadium Australia has hosted just a handful of events since the end of the Olympic Games including rugby union’s Bledisloe Cup between Australia and New Zealand and the National Rugby League Grand Final.
Sydney’s sporting status was further damaged after news last week that the Sydney triathlon is on the brink of collapse because of a lack of sponsorship.
Stadium Australia Group’s chief executive Ken Edwards has criticised the New South Wales government for not investing enough money in improving Sydney’s status as a sporting centre after it lost out to Melbourne’s MCG stadium for the right to stage the Socceroos’ World Cup qualifier.
