BANGKOK – Southeast Asian nations hope spreading the financial burden across the region will give them the advantage in their bid to host the soccer World Cup in 2030. World soccer’s governing body FIFA may take another decade to decide on the host for the 2030 finals, but the region’s footballing federation (AFF) are the second party to express an interest in hosting the soccer showpiece event after Argentina and Uruguay said they were interested in lodging a joint bid.
AFF nations will form a committee aimed at promoting their bid, the details of which will include special lanes at regional airports to facilitate transport to games, Malaysian foreign minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman told Bernama news agency. “It will be a unifying factor for the ASEAN community if we could host the World Cup,” he said after a foreign ministers meeting on Monday. The proposal is likely to involve all 11 of the AFF’s member nations, which will raise logistical and financial questions.
