Australian Prime Ministership Julia Gillard meets FIFA President

During the first overseas visit of her current Prime Ministership, Australia's Julia Gillard has met Sepp Blater, President of world football governing body FIFA.

The meeting has delighted Football Federation Australia (FFA) Chairman Frank Lowy, who stated "we are delighted the Prime Minister could fit in a meeting with the FIFA President into her busy schedule to push our claims of hosting the FIFA World Cup in 2022.

"This demonstrates the Governmentâs unwavering support for our Bid and shows FIFA how serious Australia is about hosting the biggest sporting event in the world.

"I would like to thank the Prime Minister and the Government for supporting the Bid on behalf of the nation from day one.

"We are now entering the business end of the race for 2022 and the Governmentâs support is more important than ever."

Australia's bid to host the World Cup has also been boosted by professional services firm PwC becoming an official partner.

PwC has been a strong supporter of football and Australia's bid since 2007 by providing ongoing economic analysis, financial, advisory and legal services. Under the new deal PwC becomes the official Professional Services partner of the bid.

Previous PwC analysis estimated that a FIFA World Cup in Australia would generate $3.9 billion in direct expenditure from items like tickets, accommodation and meals

FFA Chief Executive Ben Buckley explained that PwC will be âinstrumental in building our case and helping us show FIFA that a FIFA World Cup in Australia would be good for football, good for Australia and good for the world."

FIFA's 24 executive members will select a host for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups in Zurich on 2nd December.

Image: FIFA President Sepp Blater with Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard. Credit: Shutterstock.