New Zealand Cup campaign costs up to $9m
The All Whites’ failed World Cup qualifying campaign has come at a huge financial cost for New Zealand Football.
According to NZF chief executive Andy Martin, the campaign cost $8 million to $9 million.
Despite the large figure, Martin said the amount invested was important to give the All Whites the best chance to qualify for next year’s finals.
“[It probably cost] somewhere around $8 million or $9 million, I reckon, over the four years,” Martin told Newstalk ZB’s Tony Veitch.
“It’s not cheap. It does cost to get into these games but you’ve got to do it right. There’s no point in trying to do this on the cheap because otherwise you’re just not prepared and when you go into big games like this, you just don’t have a chance.”
A playoff win would have been worth at least US$10 million ($14 million) to NZF, thanks to the financial windfall that automatically comes from World Cup participation.
But now they will be left with only the returns from the playoff, primarily the television rights and ticket sales from the home leg in Wellington.
Martin said coming so close was disappointing but he was confident New Zealand football was on the right track.
“We’re developing a game that’s growing faster than any other sport in this country right now. It’s the biggest sport; there’s more people playing,” said Martin.
“What we’ve got to do is make sure of the quality, and quality only comes from putting these players in good environments. That doesn’t happen overnight.”
The NZF boss remained positive about the future of Kiwi football.
“I think we’ve got the infrastructure and systems [in place]. A new Government is a really good time and opportunity for us because we can go to places that other sports in this country can’t, we can get to ministers other sports can’t.
“We’ve got to see that people see the value in football and we just got very close to the top 10 team in the world.”