KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 30 —Many aspects must be taken into consideration before pursuing a proposal for ASEAN countries to jointly bid for the 2034 World Cup said former Asian Football Confederation secretary-general Datuk Peter Velappan.

The bid is fraught with difficulties and challenges, namely logistics, standard of football in the region, diplomatic challenges and economic capability to host an event of such magnitude.

It is also felt that proceeding with the plan would throw up all sorts of prickly debates, among them the delicate task of deciding where the opening game would be played, which country hosts the final, which country’s team automatically qualifies for the tournament.

Velappan who served as the Coordination Director of the Organising Committee for the 2002 FIFA World Cup that was jointly hosted by South Korea and Japan stressed that the country bidding to host the World Cup must also prepare a working paper on public facilities like public transport, capability to handle an influx of visitors who are expected to come and watch the World Cup.

He added that apart from the basic requirements, Malaysia’s standard or rather ranking in the FIFA list must also improve so as to gain a foothold among nations playing football at the highest level.

“To me, bidding to host the World Cup will remain a dream if we are way behind other Asian countries. For example, in the 60s and 70s, we were able to beat Japan and South Korea but now there is a huge disparity between the two nations and Malaysia,” he told Bernama, here.

Velappan or affectionately known as Datuk Peter, took over as the General Secretary of then fledgling AFC in 1977 and remained in office until his retirement in 2007.

The outspoken Velappan said FIFA might also be reluctant to accept a joint bid ASEAN because it involves a number of countries.

“FIFA normally considers a joint bid involving two countries, not more...if more than two, it may be difficult to convince the decision makers because FIFA itself will be in a predicament in terms of preparations,” he said.

Recently Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin was reported to have said that Malaysia is in favour of the bid to host the prestigious World Cup and would wait for the consensus of other ASEAN countries before submitting the bid to FIFA.

Khairy had said delegates who were present at the Asean Sport Ministers Meeting in Laos in December were in principle agreeable to the proposal but they had to refer to their respective governments before it could be submitted to FIFA. — Bernama