THIS week two sporting teams from regional NSW will be proudly representing Australia on the world stage to a potential audience of half a billion people.

It's the type of event that would have been unimaginable just five years ago and you might expect that the Australian sporting media would share the excitement.

I scanned the weekend papers in Sydney, however, for a preview or even a mention of this amazing event to no avail. (Thank God and Les for "The World Game".) While the buzz has been building in Newcastle and on the coast, it seems the mainstream media have failed (once again) to recognise and acknowledge the significance of a major sporting event simply because they "don't like football."

This refusal to give adequate coverage to the AFC Champions League, despite its huge significance, is an embarrassing reflection of the antiquated "wogball" mentality that still pervades the sports pages of many of our major newspapers. For far too long we have put up with people who are supposedly highly credentialed sports journalists either ignoring football or worse, damning it with faint praise. ( And yes, occasionally, when they feel really threatened, we witness them launch into ill-informed diatribes against football and all who support it. Oops! Your desperation is showing!)

The time has come to reveal these journalists for what they are : pathetically parochial middle-aged Anglos who want to cling to the Australia of the 1950s, like Bruce Ruxton or Pauline Hanson. In their sad little world, real men play rugby or cricket and "soccer" is still a game for Poms, wops and dagos that "real Australians" don't care about. Their wilful refusal to acknowledge the immense popularity and worldwide significance of Australian football and footballers amounts to nothing less than a rejection of multiculturalism.

Nowhere is contemporary Australian society, in all its multicultural glory, better reflected than in the A-League. Free from the ethnic divisions of the NSL, the A-League boasts players and fans from Indigenous, Asian, African, European and Arabic backgrounds. For the first time in Australia's history, we have a sporting league that is truly representative of every sector of Australian society : surely something to be celebrated and supported, whether you like the sport or not.

One thing's for sure, you can bet your life that when we get to the next World Cup, these football deniers will be the first to jump on the bandwagon. Who can forget the appalling "Footy Show" from Germany 2006, in which Sam Newman leered at Brazilian girls in nightclubs and one of the "brains trust" asked Harry Kewell's wife about his groin injury "because you'd know his groin better than anyone...".

Korean fans would no doubt be baffled at any perceived lack of interest in football from Australians. Pohang's catchphrase is "Now, to the World", a reflection of the phenomenal rise of Korean football in the past 20 years, finally eclipsing baseball as the country's most popular sport. At Italia 90, South Korea was one of only two Asian teams competing and failed to gain a point. Twelve years later, they were co-hosting the World Cup and 7 million Koreans watched their country in the semi-final against Germany.

Their spirited 3-1 loss in the 3rd place play-off against Turkey, including a hard-fought injury time goal, showed the fighting spirit Korean football has prided itself on. We can expect no less from Pohang on Wednesday, a team that has won six domestic trophies and two AFC Champions Leagues. They have also provided more than 50 players to the national team and their supporters are co-incidentally, called The Marines (after the strip colour, I believe).

Facing them will be a challenge, but it is one to be embraced and enjoyed, as the beginning of a new era for CCM, a club which continues to lead the way, despite its size. And as you watch the game unfold, spare a thought for all the "wogs, Poms and dagos" who strived for so long to build up the game we love for all Australians. They would be so proud to see a couple of small town Aussie teams take on Asia's finest.

Let's forget the battering the A-League has received in the wake of the Socceroos loss to Kuwait. Time to enjoy and support "Lawrie and Dutchy's Excellent Adventure" - wherever it may lead.

Medical authorities advise that Wilko and Hutch's ventriloquist act should not be performed by untrained persons.