Velappan supports ASEAN countries bidding for World Cup host

KUALA LUMPUR: Former Asian Football Confederation (AFC) secretary-general, Datuk Peter Velappan believes that four ASEAN countries can jointly organised the World Cup football tournament in the future if their respective government give full support to their national FAs.

Velappan, who has just returned from Russia after overseeing the ongoing 2018 FIFA World Cup, noted that the four countries had what it takes to organise the prestigious football tournament in the future despite having world rankings that are not as good compared to that of the European countries.

“If we can bring the World Cup to the ASEAN countries after 2026, it will play a great role to the unification in the region in terms of the people, game besides bringing joy to the people.

“However we have to present a good case to FIFA if these four countries really want to organise the World Cup just as what United States, Canada and Mexico did to win the 2026 World Cup host,” Velappan told a press conference yesterday.

In this regard, Velappan who had served as (AFC) secretarygeneral from 1978 to 2007, urged the AFC to give full support to all four countries, namely Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam if they decided to proceed with the joint bidding process.

After Russia, Qatar will play host for the 2022 World Cup, followed by three Concacaf members – United States, Canada and Mexico - which were recently given the rights by FIFA to jointly host the 2026 edition.

FIFA executive committee member Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah had recently said that the football governing bodies from Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam had shown interest in being joint hosts with Malaysia for the 2034 edition.