18 Jan WHY SO SUSAH WORAWI ?

It would be difficult for Asean to jointly host the World Cup, Football Association of Thailand President, Worawi Makudi in Bangkok, Monday.

Worawi, who is a FIFA Ececutive committee member, was responding to earlier reports that ASEAN foreign ministers have agreed to propose to the grouping’s leadership that the region host the FIFA World Cup in 2030 as a group.

The foreign ministers, who are meeting in Lombok, Indonesia, would submit a formal and detailed plan for approval by the ASEAN leaders when they meet in Jakarta on 7-8 May 2010.
The idea of the region jointly hosting the FIFA World Cup in 2030 was first proposed by Malaysia at the annual foreign ministers’ meeting in Hanoi in July last year.

Malaysian Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman volunteered to discuss the idea with his country’s sports authorities. Malaysian Prime Minister YAB Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has endorsed the proposal.

“It is not easy for ASEAN to host the World Cup. If they really want to host the World Cup, then there should be only four host nations. It is impossible for a World Cup to be held in more than four countries,” said Worawi

ASEAN has 10 member nations including Thailand. It seems that FIFA does not like the idea of more than one nation organising a World Cup after Japan and South Korea jointly hosted the 2002 World Cup.

Furthermore, each ASEAN nation in the proposed joint bid will have to build several new stadiums and infrastructure, Worawi said.

Security would also be a big concern if a World Cup is co-hosted by several countries, the FAT boss said.

Another problem is FIFA would certainly not allow all ASEAN members to get automatic berths for the finals if the grouping’s bid is successful, Worawi said.