Football Federation Australia (FFA) has partnered with Cisco to add some technological spice to the country's bid to host the FIFA World Cup in 2018 or 2022.
The exclusive deal makes Australia the only bidding country to partner with Cisco globally and cements Cisco in Australia's sports and entertainment industry.
Up until now Cisco had partnered with the London Olympic Games 2012 and US NFL team the Miami Dolphins.
"Cisco has recognised sports and entertainment as a market adjacency," Les Williamson, vice president of Cisco Australia and New Zealand, said.
As FFA's technology partner, Cisco will provide hardware solutions including its telepresence technology for virtual face-to-face meetings with football stakeholders around the world.
FFA CEO Ben Buckley said the partnership allows FFA to move forward with a "first-class technical bid".
"It lets the FFA connect with the world to deliver one of the best ever World Cups," said Buckley.
The partnership is about bringing people closer together and interacting in a much more cost effective way, he added.
"And it's about two leading organisations in their fields working together to deliver solutions that help enhance the way we do business," Buckley said.
Les Williamson, vice president of Cisco Australia and New Zealand, said Cisco is "excited" to help differentiate Australia's bid.
"Telepresence is just one aspect of how we intend to [differentiate] our World Cup bid."
Buckley said telepresence will be rolled out across its consultancy network in four locations in a few weeks.
Cisco declined to comment on the channel's involvement and said it would make more announcements further down the track.
Commercial details of the deal were not disclosed.
The FFA will officially make a bid for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups on Friday week.
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