The announcement of the new tournament was made by FIFA President Gianni Infantino after signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on football development, on the sidelines of the 47th ASEAN Summit at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Center in the Malaysian capital, on October 26.
Acting President of the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) Datuk Yusoff Mahadi said that the first announcement of the FIFA ASEAN Cup is of special significance to Malaysia, as it was made at the ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur, chaired by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
"This announcement has great symbolic significance for Malaysia's role and commitment to strengthening regional solidarity and cooperation through football," he said.
The new tournament is expected to open a new chapter for Southeast Asian football under the sponsorship of FIFA and provide an important foundation to improve the competitiveness of teams in the region.
This initiative also strengthens the relationship between ASEAN countries through sportsmanship and friendship, while improving the quality of competition because the tournament is expected to be held in the official FIFA competition schedule.
"We believe that with strong support from all member countries and the leadership of FIFA, the FIFA ASEAN Cup will become a symbol of the rise of regional football in the international arena," the head of FAM shared.
The FIFA ASEAN Cup is organized according to the model of the FIFA Arab Cup, which started in 2021.
FIFA will closely coordinate with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), Southeast Asian Football Confederation (AFF) and FIFA member federations of ASEAN countries to agree on the competition format of the FIFA ASEAN Cup in the coming time.
According to Thai media, the FIFA ASEAN Cup will be different from the AFF Cup - the No. 1 regional tournament held every two years, starting in 1996. It is not ruled out the possibility that Southeast Asia will have 2 parallel tournaments.
With the format of the FIFA Arab Cup, the FIFA ASEAN Cup can be held at the same time as the World Cup, which is 4 times a year. With the FIFA Arab Cup, after being first held in 2021, FIFA has decided that the next 3 tournaments will take place in 2025, 2029 and 2033, all in Qatar.
At the request of the Qatar Football Association, they will host the upcoming 3 tournaments on the principle of a new tournament not included in the FIFA International Schedule.
With that, it is not ruled out that the FIFA ASEAN Cup will be held every 4 years, but the start date is still unclear.
