Asean mulling joint bid for 2030 World Cup

A proposal to stage the World Cup finals in southeast Asia in 2030 is being considered by members of Asean, the Assocation of Southeast Asian nations (Asean), the Singapore FA said on Monday.

Zainudin Nordin, the president of the the Singapore FA (FAS) said in a statement that the proposal had been made at an ASEAN Foreign Ministers meeting.

"It is possible for Asean to jointly host the event in 20 years time and to possibly meet the football standards then due to the aggressive football youth development programmes of Asean member nations," he said.

"A joint bid by Asean will raise the international profile of the region and will also unite citizens of the member nations."

The Asean group comprises 10 countries: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

In 2007 four Asean countries -- Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam -- hosted the 16-team Asian Cup, the continent's top soccer tournament. 

Indonesia were also briefly involved in the bidding process for the 2022 World Cup finals before withdrawing their candidature in March last year.

Although any decisions for the 2030 finals will not be made by Fifa for more than a decade, the Asean nations are the second party to show an interest, following an announcement last year that Argentina and Uruguay could also consider a joint bid.

The 2014 finals are set to be staged in Brazil, followed by Russia in 2018 and Qatar in 2022.

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