Australia withdraws from race to host Rugby World Cup

The Australian Rugby Union (ARU) has announced that it will not tender to host the Rugby World Cup (RWC) tournament in 2015 or 2019.
Despite the enormous success of the 2003 Rugby World Cup throughout Australia, and the desire to return the gameâs showpiece event to these shores, ARU has confirmed it cannot reasonably accept the risk of committing unconditionally to the provision of the Fundamental Tournament Guarantees required by Rugby World Cup Ltd.
The guarantees include Tournament Fees of £80 million for 2015 and £96 million for 2019, which are in addition to the host union being required to bear all the tournamentâs costs, relying solely on ticket sales to offset these liabilities.
An ARU communication stated âafter exhaustive consideration, review and assessment of the terms of tender the ARU Board concluded that while Australia is able to submit a compelling case to host the Rugby World Cup in 2015 or 2019, it is unable to provide the guarantees necessary in full and without compromise.
âRather than submit a tender that would be ruled ineligible, ARU has reluctantly decided to withdraw from the tender process for both tournaments.
âARU is extremely disappointed but the risk associated with underwriting guarantees for tournaments six and 10 years into the future would not be in the best interests of Australian Rugby.
âRisk factors include fluctuating exchange rates and the uncertainty and unpredictability of the world economy.
âARU would reconsider its position if, at any stage, the terms of tender were modified.�?
The closing date for tenders is this Friday 8th May, with a decision on the 2015 and 2019 RWC hosts to be taken in July.