Jamie Harnwell: Sports diplomacy offers WA a valuable toehold into Asia
Optus Stadium is set for one of the Socceroos' biggest games in years as Tony Popovic's team seek a place at the 2026 FIFA World Cup finals.
While opponents Japan are already assured of their ticket to North America as group winners, Australia is pursuing the second automatic qualification spot when the teams meet in Perth on Thursday.
It would be fitting for WA to provide the stage for a joint celebration between the green and gold and the Blue Samurai.
WA has played a key role in enhancing relations between Australia and Asia through football, leveraging our strategic position in a region where the round ball is king.
For decades, Football West has sent representative teams to Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.
These are great sporting and cultural experiences for players and coaches, but they also offer real opportunities for business and government to develop trade and relations.
In February this year, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade released the 48-page Australia's Sports Diplomacy Strategy 2023+, addressing how the nation engages with the world through sport, sportspeople and sporting events.
The document contains far-ranging goals, including elevating sport as a tool of national power, focusing on efforts in the Indo-Pacific, and boosting economic growth.
The art of sports diplomacy was on show again recently when Premier Roger Cook visited East Java to mark the 35th anniversary of WA's sister-State relationship with the province.
It was fantastic to see Mr Cook, whose Government is a big supporter of our game, donning a WA shirt for a meeting with officials from top-flight Indonesian team Persebaya Surabaya.
Football West has cultivated a strong relationship with Persebaya since the club first sent an under-19 side to Perth in 2018.
The two parties signed a three-year memorandum of understanding in December, committing to further talent development and exchange programs, and Persebaya will come to WA in July to play a friendly against the WA men's team.
That game will see about 100 supporters from Surabaya travel here to cheer on their side in a game that will be broadcast live on TV in Indonesia.
Both WA and the state-of-the-art Sam Kerr Football Centre will receive invaluable exposure to a potential audience of millions.
Even more people will tune in for the upcoming Socceroos World Cup qualifier, with thousands of Japanese supporters flying in for the match.
And it will be a similar story in March when Optus Stadium hosts the opening ceremony for the 2026 AFC Women's Asian Cup, plus the Matildas' first game.
These events open many doors for WA Government, business and tourism. Sport, and more specifically football, is a demonstrated tool to increase international engagement and WA continues to excel in this space.
Jamie Harnwell is the CEO of Football West
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Socceroos hero Aziz Behich and coach Tony Popovic ecstatic after later winner against Japan
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