That’s it?! Bizarre photo sees Aussie ‘culture’ ridiculed as Asian Cup mix-up explained

Australia’s position in the Asian Football Confederation has long been a topic of conjecture and debate.

The most obvious benefit of leaving Oceania for Asia back in 2006 was a seemingly easier path to the men’s World Cup finals, but the move was also intended to involve Australian football taking part in Asian competitions and spreading the word at all levels.

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Anyone that has followed the journey knows Australia has a checkered history in that pursuit, sometimes opting against sending junior teams to continental tournaments, for example.

But at least the effort was made for major, senior competitions, or so we thought.

A cultural exhibition at the current Asian Cup in Doha, Qatar has painted Australian football in a poor light and led to some strong criticism.

Scott McIntyre, a journalist and Asian football expert, has posted a series of photos of stalls from some of the tournament’s competing nations.

He has included Syria, Oman, Palestine and Australia.

While three of those nations have packed their stalls, as McIntyre states, with “traditional wares/culture” including a “range of food, clothing and traditional games”, the Australian stall looks more bare than a Coles toilet paper aisle in a pandemic.

It’s not completely empty, mind you, bizarrely it is adorned with two bowling pins and a tennis ball.

There is also a brown paper bag, which may or may not be stuffed with budgie smugglers, Farnsey CDs or Australia Day merch, we’re not sure.

It has been confirmed to news.com.au that no one in Australian football was responsible for the stall in question.

A query to the Football Australia media department resulted in the following statement.

“Thank you for reaching out to us regarding