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An Australian lawyer and former vice-captain of the national women's soccer team, the Matildas, is leading the charge in Australia's bid to host the 2018 or 2022 soccer world cup.Moya Dodd, a…
An Australian lawyer and former vice-captain of the national women's soccer team, the Matildas, is leading the charge in Australia's bid to host the 2018 or 2022 soccer world cup.
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Moya Dodd, a partner at Gilbert + Tobin in Sydney, is driving the push for the coveted event to come to our shores in her capacity as a member of the Football Federation of Australia (FFA) board and bid team - on which she has been sitting since 2007.
Speaking to Lawyers Weekly this week, Dodd said she feels extremely lucky to be a part of such an important process, which will conclude with an announcement of the successful candidates in December this year.
Until then, Dodd is charged with promoting Australia's bid in as many ways possible.
"The [World Cup] bid is a massively important thing for us and it is taking a huge amount of effort and energy," she said.
"At the same time, grassroots and community football just seems to keep growing and growing, so there is a lot to do and being on the board is a real privilege."
Dodd said her election to the board was the result of a combination of being in the right place at the right time, and also possessing desired skills, traits and experience.
"The chairman was keen to bring in someone with a football background, yet with something to offer from a business perspective," she said.
"Being a lawyer makes you think about things in certain ways that can be useful to boards and committees of this sort ... giving good legal advice involves being able to put together aspects of different disciplines to come up with an answer that is ... robust in the real world."
Despite the huge demand on her time that such a responsibility holds, Dodd said her time is not difficult to manage, partly because Gilbert + Tobin allows her to work at 80 per cent capacity, and partly because she loves what she does.
"I am lucky to work with some wonderful people who are quite genuine about making this work for me," she said.
"If you are enthusiastic about something, it's easy to get it done. There is a lot to be enthusiastic about in football and on the work front. I don't find it difficult to get out of bed in the mornings."
To get behind Dodd and the world cup bid, visit http://www.australia2018-2022.com.au/
