2015 Asian Cup a win for multicultural Australia

The Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Social Services, Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, said today that the success of the 2015 Asian Cup highlighted the best aspects of Australia’s diversity.

The cup is being contested across Australia by 16 teams from the Asian region and has successfully showcased Australian harmony and diversity to millions of people with one semi-final reaching an estimated 95 million viewers in China.

“Sport unites us and the Socceroos are a fantastic representation of our multicultural society, with about thirteen of our current players, captain and our national coach coming from diverse backgrounds,” Senator Fierravanti-Wells said.

“The Socceroos have been fantastic ambassadors for multicultural Australia and they have shown how Australians of different backgrounds can come together and achieve greatness.

“Football is known as the world game, and given that Australians share around 300 ancestries, it is one of our more popular sports,” Senator Fierravanti-Wells said.

“Football has long been used as a vehicle for building relationships between communities and research shows it is the ideal sport for teaching children the values of diversity and teamwork.

“The tournament has been embraced across Australia and irrespective of background; supporters from many nations have come together to share three weeks of the very best of Asian football.

“People have adopted other teams to support if their own team is not playing, showing that Australians are welcoming and embracing of different cultures.

“I wish the Socceroos the very best of luck for Saturday’s final and congratulate all of the participating teams and countries that have made the 2015 Asian Cup such a resounding success.