Participants at the meeting (Source: asean.org)

Sports officials from ASEAN member countries, representatives from the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) and other football associations in the region gathered virtually in the first Technical Working Group Meeting for the Preparation of ASEAN’s Joint Bid for the FIFA World Cup 2034 (1st TWG-FWC Meeting) that took place on March 22.

The meeting was chaired by Dr Niwat Limsuknirun, Director General of Physical Education of Ministry of Tourism and Sports of Thailand and Chairperson of the ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting on Sports. Under Thailand’s leadership, members of the TWG-FWC discussed the process of submission of the joint bid in 2026 including the general requirements, timeline, and the role each member state will take for the FIFA World Cup 2034.

ASEAN’s bid for possible hosting of the FIFA World Cup was first mooted by the ASEAN foreign Ministers at the ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting Retreat and Special Meeting of the ASEAN Coordinating Council in January 2011 in Lombok, Indonesia.

In the 34th ASEAN Summit on 23 June 2019 in Bangkok, ASEAN leaders welcomed the shared the bloc's wish to develop a joint bid to host a FIFA World Cup and supported the efforts of national football associations of ASEAN member states and the AFF to realise this goal.

In response to the leaders’ statement, the AFF on 24 June, 2019, expressed its support for the initiative to launch a joint bid to host the World Cup in 2034./.

VNA