How will the FIFA ASEAN Cup take place?

The upcoming FIFA ASEAN Cup, organized by FIFA specifically for Southeast Asia, will receive much public attention. So how will it take place?

FIFA President Gianni Infantino presents a souvenir flag to ASEAN Secretary General Kao Kim Hourn - Photo: FIFA

At the 47th ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) on October 26, the International Football Federation (FIFA) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) signed a memorandum of understanding on football development cooperation between the two organizations.

Notably, FIFA announced the launch of the FIFA ASEAN Cup, a tournament for national teams of FIFA member federations in the Southeast Asian region.

For now, FIFA President Gianni Infantino only said that the FIFA ASEAN Cup will be organized according to the model of the FIFA Arab Cup.

The competition format will be closely coordinated by FIFA with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), the Southeast Asian Football Federation (AFF) and FIFA member federations of ASEAN countries in the coming time.

Wipe out ASEAN Cup?

The ASEAN Cup is a traditional football tournament in Southeast Asia, held every two years. The tournament was first held in 1996 under the name Tiger Cup, then renamed AFF Cup (2007 - 2022) and ASEAN Cup 2024. The Vietnamese team is the current champion of the tournament.

Therefore, the birth of the FIFA ASEAN Cup (organized by FIFA) makes the public, especially Vietnamese football fans, wonder: will the ASEAN Cup (organized by AFF) still exist?

Algeria celebrates winning the 2021 FIFA Arab Cup - Photo: AFP

Based on the way FIFA "intervened" in organizing the Arab Cup in 2021, it can be seen that the ASEAN Cup will continue, but will be raised to FIFA standards and will no longer be a tournament where clubs do not need to return players to the national team.

Arab Cup is exciting thanks to FIFA

The Arab Cup is organized by the Arab Football Federation (UAFA). The tournament was established in 1963 and is held every four years.

The tournament was interrupted twice for long periods due to war and lack of sponsors. So until 2012, the tournament has only been held 9 times.

Seeing the huge potential for football and commerce here, FIFA has organized the 10th tournament in 2021 under the name FIFA Arab Cup. With the presence of FIFA, this tournament has become a real football festival.

Despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, fans from Qatar, the Middle East and around the world flocked to Qatar to cheer on their teams and enjoy a fantastic tournament.

Qatar's home fans at the 2021 FIFA Arab Cup - Photo: FIFA

According to FIFA statistics, 631,742 tickets were sold for 32 matches, although stadium capacity was limited to 80% during the COVID-19 pandemic. Of which, Qatari residents accounted for 89% of ticket purchases, the rest were international tourists.

The match with the largest number of spectators at the FIFA Arab Cup 2021 was the quarter-final between Qatar and the UAE with 63,439 people - a national record at that time for the number of spectators for a sporting event.

The 2025 FIFA Arab Cup will take place from December 1 to 18 in Qatar, with 16 teams participating. In its second year, FIFA continues to expect the tournament to grow even further.

Waiting for FIFA ASEAN Cup

Before 2021, the Arab Cup was not included in the FIFA (FIFA Days) calendar. However, since FIFA became the organizer, this tournament has automatically been included in the FIFA Days. Clubs are obliged to release players to the national team when participating in the FIFA Arab Cup.

Similarly, the AFF Cup or ASEAN Cup have never been included in FIFA’s competition schedule. In many previous AFF Cups, Thailand or Indonesia could not bring in good players playing abroad or in the country because their clubs did not release them.

So when FIFA organizes in the near future, the FIFA ASEAN Cup is clearly worth waiting for. Because the participating teams will have their best players, helping the matches to be of higher quality, thereby giving fans more exciting matches.

Not to mention, with its organizing technology, FIFA promises to raise the level of the tournament which is currently in the lowlands of world football.

At that time, it was only difficult for the Vietnamese team in their journey to conquer the championship. But the more difficult it was to win the championship, the more worthy it was.

NGUYEN KHOI

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/fifa-asean-cup-se-dien-ra-the-nao-20251028093143863.htm