Brisbane 2032 Olympic soccer preliminaries are expected to be played outside Queensland, with Sydney and Melbourne set to host matches if the sport is included in the Games programme.
Queensland Sport Minister Tim Mander defended the arrangement on Friday, saying the final allocation would be confirmed only after the International Olympic Committee approves the sports programme, which is expected by the end of the year.
Mr Mander said the Queensland Government was committed to ensuring the Games were cost-neutral, and argued that staging football in major cities would help maximise ticket sales.
“It’s important we take advantage of the most popular sports, and obviously football is one of the most popular sports and will be the ones that draw the biggest crowds,” he said.
He added: “It’s our commitment to Queenslanders these Games are cost-neutral – to do that we have to make sure we maximise ticket sales on the sports that are the most popular with the public.”
The government aims to finalise the venue plan during the first quarter of 2027. Mr Mander said regional Queensland would still receive its share of events, with Townsville and the Sunshine Coast earmarked to host matches.
“I don’t need to run through all the other sports that have already been slated for the regional areas,” he said. “Our regions will be well and truly serviced by great sports.”
Mr Mander also rejected a suggestion that tennis preliminaries would be held in Melbourne, although he did not provide further details about the proposed venue plan.
Olympic football has traditionally been spread across the host nation. At the Sydney 2000 Games, matches were staged in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Canberra and Brisbane, where the Gabba had been redeveloped in the late 1990s to host Olympic soccer.
For the Los Angeles 2028 Games, football matches are due to be held in New York, Columbus, San Diego, San Jose, St Louis and Nashville, as well as the host city.
