Soccer-Australia not interested in FIFA events until change - report

MELBOURNE, June 9 (Reuters) - Football Federation Australia (FFA) is refusing to bid to host any future global soccer events until there is systemic change at the world governing body FIFA, according to media reports on Tuesday. Australia recently hosted the Asian Cup for the first time but failed to win the bid for the 2022 World Cup, which was awarded to Qatar with the FFA garnering just one vote in the process. It had been considering a bid for the 2023 Women's World Cup but, after the corruption scandal that broke last month and has engulfed the world governing body since, the FFA said they would not be involved in any future bids. "In the current volatile environment, FFA can give no consideration to bidding for any FIFA tournament," an FFA spokesperson told Australia's Fairfax Media. "FFA has made it clear that major reform is needed. FIFA's problems are deep-rooted and tangled in a culture that has developed over decades. "Until such time that the existing governance model is overhauled, it's hard to imagine the circumstances in which FFA would put Australia forward as a bidding nation." (Reporting by Greg Stutchbury in Wellington; Editing by Mark Lamport-Stokes)