LET me begin this article with the following disclaimer. I am an unabashed, diehard fan of football, soccer, the World Game, whatever you want to call it.

It is the way it has always been and it is something that will not change for the rest of my time on earth.

Now don’t get me wrong. I enjoy watching rugby league, I love the fast pace and skill of AFL and I can think of no better way to spend the day than in the grandstand of a major stadium, hollowed-out watermelon on my head, beer in hand, watching the cricket.

But if I had the opportunity to choose how I would spend the last 90 minutes of my life on earth, I have little doubt I would choose watching a game of football.

I openly cried when the Socceroos qualified for the 2006 World Cup, my room as a teenager was decorated with the wallpaper of my favourite team and I have taken two weeks off work in June next year just so I can stay up late every night and watch as much of the World Cup, and the Socceroos, as humanly possible.

To me, any sport – past, present or yet to be invented – will always fall short of football.

It is therefore easy to understand my astonishment this week as bosses from the NRL and AFL decided they would jeopardise Australia’s bid for the 2018 or 2022 World Cup by arguing over the availability of grounds for the event.

Quite frankly, and realistically, if hosting the World Cup means postponing an AFL or NRL season for eight weeks, or if it means no games at the MCG or any other ground, then so be it.

AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou has made it clear his code would be unwilling to give up the MCG while on Wednesday, NRL boss David Gallop said rugby league was wary of the major boost the World Cup would give to football in Australia and what effect that would have on his code.

To say I was flabbergasted would be an understatement.

I do not recall Football Federation Australia standing in the way of the NRL during its successful hosting of the Rugby League World Cup earlier this year, nor do I remember any opposition to rugby union’s World Cup in 2003.

And if the AFL was global enough to host a world championship, I doubt football would oppose that either.

I hate to be the one to break the news to Mr Demetriou and Mr Gallop, but to the World Cup, their codes are nothing.

We are talking about an event that was allowed to disrupt Major League Baseball when the US hosted it in 1994.

What chance does the AFL or NRL have of getting its own way if MLB couldn’t?

And don’t think this infighting won’t have an effect on Cairns either.

As one of Australia’s most popular destinations, it is in for a massive windfall should we be given the nod for 2018 or 2022.

Firstly, the Far North would be considered by several of the teams as a perfect base city in the lead-up to the event.

A successful World Cup bid may even see the fast-tracking of upgrades to Barlow Park or Cazalys, in order to make Far Northern training facilities even more attractive to competing teams.

Secondly, the tourism dollars that would come pouring in during the event would be astronomical.

The lure of Far North Queensland is well known to those who live here and its wider appeal, both domestically and internationally, has been perfectly demonstrated in the past few weeks with several major announcements regarding increased flights and increased demand for holidays here.

Fans from 31 different countries will converge on Australia and you can almost guarantee the majority of them will take the chance to enjoy more than football during their visit.

What better place than Cairns to either prepare before the cup or relax and unwind after your team is bundled out?

The fact that infighting between codes is threatening Australia’s chance of hosting the world’s biggest sporting event is testament to how far the game still has to go in this country.

But hosting the World Cup is something myself, and probably thousands of others, could not have fathomed 10 or 15 years ago.

I know the event is nine years away at the earliest, but host countries are announced next year and FIFA would be all too aware of what is happening here at the moment.

It is time for all sporting codes to see the bigger picture and make some concessions – not just for the good of the game but for the good of Australia.

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