Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia—In a major boost for Southeast Asian football, FIFA President Gianni Infantino officially announced the launch of a new regional competition, the FIFA ASEAN Cup.
The announcement was made on Monday at the 47th ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur, where FIFA and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) signed a renewed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to deepen their partnership in sports development.
Key Highlights of the Announcement:
* Official Name: The new tournament will be called the FIFA ASEAN Cup.
* Strategic Scheduling: Crucially, the competition will be staged during the official FIFA International Match Calendar windows. This is a significant change from the existing biennial ASEAN Championship (formerly the AFF Cup), as it will compel clubs globally to release their players, allowing national teams to field their strongest possible line-ups, including top overseas-based professionals.
* Goal: President Infantino stated that the tournament is designed to “give a real boost to football” in the region, strengthen national team competitiveness, and provide a global platform for Southeast Asia’s best players.
* Format: The new competition is expected to follow a format similar to the highly successful FIFA Arab Cup.
* Inclusion: The announcement was made shortly after East Timor was formally admitted as the 11th member of ASEAN, adding symbolic significance to the 11-nation tournament.
“Through the FIFA ASEAN Cup, we are uniting countries together, and this competition will be a huge success,” Infantino commented at the summit. “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 has confirmed it will collaborate with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF), and the region’s member associations to finalize the structure and scheduling of the inaugural tournament. The move is anticipated to be a transformative step for football development across the region of over 650 million passionate fans.
