Asian Cup Australia on display in Russia

AFC Asian Cup Australia 2015TM is this week in the international sporting spotlight at the SportAccord Convention in St Petersburg, Russia.

AFC Asian Cup Australia 2015TM is this week in the international sporting spotlight at the SportAccord Convention in St Petersburg, Russia.

The AFC Asian Cup is featured at “The Business Club presented by Australia Unlimited”, which is the official business lounge at SportAccord managed by the Australian Trade Commission.

The five-day SportAccord Convention has attracted more than 2000 senior sporting administrators from more than 80 countries, along with 320 international media representatives.

AFC Asian Cup Local Organising Committee Chief Executive Michael Brown said the Asian Cup-s presence at major international sporting conventions and exhibitions has raised awareness with some of the world-s most significant sports administrators.

“There is growing recognition that football, through events like the Asian Cup, offers a unique opportunity for Australia to promote tourism, trade and other interests,” Mr Brown said.

“The Federal Government-s Asian Century White Paper acknowledged the power of sport to bridge language and cultural barriers and serve as a platform to build relationships and football, as the world game, is best placed in this regard.

“Major conventions like SportAccord allow us to be present on the world stage and I would like to thank the Federal Government and the Australian Trade Commission for their on-going support in promoting the Asian Cup to a global sporting gathering.”

Austrade staff from Russia, Brazil, Qatar, Japan, the United Kingdom and Australia are at SportAccord and are promoting the Asian Cup to delegates with business introductions for Australia-s major sporting event specialists being facilitated.

Mr Brown said the AFC Asian Cup provided a significant opportunity for Australia to build on its international reputation for delivering major sporting events and to provide a benefit for tourism operators and business.

"We-re expecting about 45,000 international visitors to come to Australia for the AFC Asian Cup. More than 500 million people watched the tournament in Qatar in 2011 and in 2015 the Asian Cup will have a potential audience of 2.5 billion," Mr Brown said.

The AFC Asian Cup is the pinnacle for the 47 nations of the Asia who represent half the world-s population and some of the most passionate football fans anywhere.

The AFC Asian Cup 2015 is being jointly-funded by the Australian Government and the Queensland, NSW, ACT and Victorian governments.