Kuala Lumpur: Australia's migration from the Oceania Confederation to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) may prove to be more than just an alternative qualifying route to the World Cup.
It has the potential to transform the country's love-hate relationship with Asia, according to an academic study.
Self-confessed Australian ''football tragic'' Anthony Bubalo, a research fellow at Sydney's Lowy Institute for International Policy, believes the shift could provide the platform for Australia, which officially joined the AFC in September, and Asia to improve political, economic and social relations.
The topic will be discussed tomorrow at a seminar, 'Engaging Asia through Sport', at the Lowy Institute, which is an independent think-tank that conducts research about a variety of issues from an Australian perspective.
''In some sense, the seminar is about football but really it's about relations with Asia and Australia,'' Bubalo said.
''Football fans see AFC membership as the cure for the development of the game in Australia but the significance goes beyond football?.
Bubalo said Australian players and fans now had the opportunity, through the national team and clubs, to interact with Asia on a scale never seen before.
(With inputs from Reuters)
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