Asian Football Confederation president Mohammed bin Hammam believes the continent has every chance of winning the race to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup but only if the region unites behind a sole bid.
Asia hosted the showpiece tournament in 2002 when Japan and South Korea shared the honour, while Australia, China and Japan have all shown interest in staging the 2018 edition after FIFA recently announced the end of their rotation policy.
And Hammam has every confidence Asia could emerge victorious from what will undoubtedly be a fiercely competitive bidding process.
"Without hesitation I would say yes," he said.
"I think we will be fighting as a confederation to host 2018.
"If we have one bid we will be getting behind this bid but if there's two or three, to be polite we would have to see who has the best chance.
"We would have to convince one of the bidders to withdraw for the good of the others.
"I think we will have a chance. We will have a chance with one candidate. I think we do have the right organisation in Asia especially after 2002. Europe has already taken their chance in 2006 and I will see that there is fair competition."
Hammam, currently in Sydney ahead of Wednesday's Asian Player of the Year Awards Gala, feels an Australian bid would stand up to those put forward by the likes of England, Russia and the Benelux nations, who have already expressed an interest in hosting the tournament.
"Australia has very good venues for the World Cup, everybody would like to play in Australia and I would not hesitate to invite other countries to support a bid for Australia," he added.
"There is no advantage for the Europeans over Australia if the countries decide to support Australia."
Hammam's backing for Australia comes less than two years after they joined the AFC from the Oceania Football Confederation in a move to improve the quality of opposition both internationally and on a domestic level.
And the Qatari believes the continent as a whole has benefited from the country's decision to compete in Asia.
"I can tell you, month by month and year by year the Asian family are valuing Australia's presence in the rest of Asia," he said.
"If you ask me where we benefit, I can't tell you exactly but we have benefited from the strong economy of Australia and very strong business in television and we are expecting sponsorship from Australian companies to come into our competitions.
"We are using the experience from Australia in our different elements, in our competitions, referees and administration.
"Out of 110 or 120 employees in our administration, 10 are Australian, so we have got what we wanted."
And Hammam has every confidence Asia could emerge victorious from what will undoubtedly be a fiercely competitive bidding process.
"Without hesitation I would say yes," he said.
"I think we will be fighting as a confederation to host 2018.
"If we have one bid we will be getting behind this bid but if there's two or three, to be polite we would have to see who has the best chance.
"We would have to convince one of the bidders to withdraw for the good of the others.
"I think we will have a chance. We will have a chance with one candidate. I think we do have the right organisation in Asia especially after 2002. Europe has already taken their chance in 2006 and I will see that there is fair competition."
Hammam, currently in Sydney ahead of Wednesday's Asian Player of the Year Awards Gala, feels an Australian bid would stand up to those put forward by the likes of England, Russia and the Benelux nations, who have already expressed an interest in hosting the tournament.
"Australia has very good venues for the World Cup, everybody would like to play in Australia and I would not hesitate to invite other countries to support a bid for Australia," he added.
"There is no advantage for the Europeans over Australia if the countries decide to support Australia."
Hammam's backing for Australia comes less than two years after they joined the AFC from the Oceania Football Confederation in a move to improve the quality of opposition both internationally and on a domestic level.
And the Qatari believes the continent as a whole has benefited from the country's decision to compete in Asia.
"I can tell you, month by month and year by year the Asian family are valuing Australia's presence in the rest of Asia," he said.
"If you ask me where we benefit, I can't tell you exactly but we have benefited from the strong economy of Australia and very strong business in television and we are expecting sponsorship from Australian companies to come into our competitions.
"We are using the experience from Australia in our different elements, in our competitions, referees and administration.
"Out of 110 or 120 employees in our administration, 10 are Australian, so we have got what we wanted."
Copyright (c) Press Association
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