BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN (17 Aug 2015) – MINISTERS responsible for sports in member-states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have agreed on a proposal to conduct a feasibility study for the bloc to jointly bid for the hosting of FIFA World Cup 2034.
The decision to study the proposal by Malaysia was made during a meeting among ASEAN sports ministers in Kuala Lumpur last Thursday, said Dr AKP Mochtan (pic), Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN for Community and Corporate Affairs.
“We have to submit (our bid to FIFA, the world governing body for football) by 2019,” Dr Mochtan said during a recent roundtable with editors from 22 member-newspaper of Asia News Network.
“ASEAN needs to work out the mechanism,” Dr Mochtan said.
Malaysian Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin was quoted by Malaysian media as saying: “For 10 nations to host the prestigious World Cup might not be accepted by FIFA.”
“It needs a lot of study,” Dr Mochtan said, adding that the feasibility study will address various questions including how the joint hosting will be financed.
As to how many ASEAN countries will be involved in hosting the matches, he said this too will be included in the feasibility study.
“We have to look at various factors before putting up the bid from ASEAN to ensure every country will have an opportunity to host matches,” Khairy was quoted as saying by Malaysian media.
During the Kuala Lumpur meeting, the sports ministers also discussed the readiness of the grouping to establish the ASEAN Super League, Dr Mochtan said.
He emphasised that the World Cup proposal and the establishment of a football league are two separate initiatives.
“The Super League will most likely come earlier – either 2016 or 2017 when FIFA approves.”
He added: “They are still consulting (the football bodies in the region). This is not by the governments.
“When it comes to sport, we have already established mechanisms, not necessarily under governments.”
SOURCE: The Brunei Times
