World Cup In Malaysia? What’s The Story?
The final bid is to be submitted before 31 October.
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The World Cup is one of the major events in the world when it comes to sports. It takes place every four years and countries will bid to host the event.
The president of the Indonesia Football Federation (PSSI) said that Indonesia is in discussion with Australia about the possibility of a joint bid to host the 2034 World Cup along with Malaysia and Singapore.
This discussion is being done despite the Asian federation publicly endorsing Saudi Arabia’s bid.
“We are discussing (a bid) with Australia,” the Sydney Morning Herald quoted Erick Thohir, president of PSSI as reported by NST.
So is it true? Could we possibly become a joint World Cup host?
Unfortunately, the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) is not on the same page as Indonesia on hosting the 2034 World Cup.
In an immediate response, FAM president Datuk Hamidin Amin said Malaysia will back Saudi Arabia’s bid for the 2034 World Cup instead.
“We (Malaysia) have never had any conversation on hosting the 2034 World Cup with anyone,” Hamidin was quoted as saying by the NST.
In response to a query on a potential joint bid, Football Australia pointed Reuters to a statement it released last week in which it stated that it was “exploring the possibility of bidding for the 2029 Club World Cup and/or the FIFA World Cup 2034.”
FIFA encouraged Asia and Oceania to submit a proposal for the 2034 World Cup after revealing that Spain, Morocco, and Portugal will host the 2030 tournament, with Uruguay, Paraguay, and Argentina hosting the opening matches.
Saudi Arabia confirmed submitting a letter of intent to host the 2034 World Cup.
FIFA has given other interested countries until 31 October to declare their intentions.
Thohir suggested that it could be too soon for the World Cup to come to the Middle East after Qatar hosted the 2022 edition.
“We are quite strong. I think FIFA will see that the Middle East area has been the host with Qatar last year. Japan and Korea have been hosts too. I am sure FIFA will try other countries,” he said.
He also added that the possibility of winning the bid is higher if it is done by joining hands with Australia, Malaysia, and Singapore.
Asian countries had a big impact in the last World Cup and it is safe to say that Asian countries are more than capable of hosting the world-famous sports event.
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