By Mark Baber
July 10 – ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) secretary-general Datuk Azzuddin Ahmad has welcomed Australia’s upcoming accession to full membership whilst firming up the details of the planned ASEAN Super League.
Azzuddin, the former FA of Malaysia (FAM) general secretary, who took up his role with the AFF on July 1, said the ASEAN Super League (ASL), due to kick off in 2015, would restrict participating countries to field only two clubs each, and the eight month season will mean they will not be able to compete in their domestic leagues.
“The ASL has already received the approval of the AFF council. We now need the support of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to ensure it kicks off as planned. The ASL will offer only cash prize money but we may propose that the winner of the title be given a slot to play in the Asian Champions League (ACL),” he added.
Azzuddin also stated that an ad-hoc committee, under the leadership of AFF and FAM President Sultan Ahmad Shah, had been set up to discuss a possible ASEAN bid for the 2034 World Cup, but “I must also add that the World Cup bid is not something initiated by AFF, but rather was mooted by the ASEAN Foreign Affairs Ministries countries at their summit last year.”
Azzuddin welcomed Australia’s accession to full membership of ASEAN, which is to be formalised at an AFF Extraordinary Meeting prior to the AFF Extraordinary Congress on August 25, saying: “This is good for football. We have to look at it positively. We must not see this as a threat. There is so much to benefit from Australia’s inclusion, including the expertise from the Australian Institute of Sports.”
Azzuddin also confirmed Australian teams would not be participating in the AFF Suzuki Games saying, “I have seen the documents and Australia themselves have requested to sit out of the AFF Suzuki Games, but will compete in other age group and women’s tournaments. They are aware that they are on a higher level compared to ASEAN countries and this is perhaps why they don’t want to compete in the AFF Suzuki Cup.”
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