- Islamabad (Sports Desk): FIFA and ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) have signed a renewed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at the 47th ASEAN Summit being held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The new MoU, signed by FIFA President Gianni Infantino and ASEAN Secretary-General Dr Kao Kim Hourn, and witnessed by ASEAN Chair and Prime Minister of Malaysia Dato’ Seri Anwar Bin Ibrahim, follows the initial agreement from November 2019, which led to the implementation of various initiatives such as FIFA Football for Schools, joint health campaign messaging and workshops on key educational and development topics across the Southeast Asian region.
“The new agreement between FIFA and ASEAN will ensure that both organisations can help make a difference by using football as a vehicle that brings hope and joy to millions of children and young people across Southeast Asia,” said FIFA President Gianni Infantino. “This partnership will help to drive positive football development, social progress and the promotion of healthy lifestyles all across the region.”
The new five-year MoU agreement aims to deepen collaboration by leveraging football as a powerful tool for unity, health, and community building, and will focus on five key areas, namely to promote sports integrity, to leverage sports for social and economic development, to ensure football development on and off the pitch, to promote inclusion, and to support climate change resilience.
Following the signature of the MoU, the launch of the FIFA ASEAN Cup was confirmed, a regional tournament that will bring together all FIFA Member Associations from the Southeast Asia region, in a format that follows in the footsteps of the successful FIFA Arab Cup.
“We are delighted to continue to show our support to the ASEAN community with the launch of the FIFA ASEAN Cup,” the FIFA President said. “This will be a great addition to the regional football calendar, it will be impactful not only in the region, but it will allow the best players in the ASEAN region to shine on the global stage. Through the FIFA ASEAN Cup, we are uniting countries together, and this competition will be a huge success as it will help boost national team football in the ASEAN region and will support the development of our sport across all of Southeast Asia.”
FIFA will engage all football stakeholders, including the Asian Football Confederation, the ASEAN Football Federation and the FIFA Member Associations of the ASEAN member states, with the precise format of the tournament to be finalised in due course.
