ASEAN countries join hand in hand to host the 2034 World Cup. (Image via: The Jakarta Post)

Joint Bid from ASEAN to Host 2034 FIFA World Cup

BANGKOK - Reportedly, 10 ASEAN countries are offering a joint bid to FIFA, in order to become hosts for the 2034 FIFA World Cup. Thai Prime Minister, Prayuth Chan-ocha, stated the information on Sunday, after the meeting with ASEAN region leaders.

These 10 countries are Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and Brunei. Summing the population altogether, there are about 640 million people in those countries that follow the soccer trend, despite the fact that their team does not do much in international competition, let alone the World Cup.

Despite it is still a long way to go, Prayuth stated that all the regional leaders had agreed to bid jointly to host the upcoming 2034 World Cup, if possible. However, he added that without the support from the people of each region, this goal would be difficult to achieve.

“We also expect people from each region to support their football association to realize this dream,” asserted Prayuth.

Malaysian Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohammad, could not agree more. He warmly welcomed Prayuth’s motive, adding that it would be an honor for ASEAN countries to one day host the prestigious soccer tournament. Mohammad also said that a single bid from ASEAN countries would never make it; so, ASEAN countries needed to do it together to achieve it.

The Joint bid from ASEAN will meet its competitor from East Asia, China. However, this was seen as a friendly competition to improve unity and stability among Asian nations, instead of intensifying tensions among those countries.

History of soccer first recorded Japan and South Korea became the first Asian countries to host the World Cup jointly in 2002. A Joint bid was also offered by the US, Canada, and Mexico to become hosts for the 2026 World Cup.

Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/06/asean-countries-launch-joint-bid-host-2034-world-cup-190624034641745.html