KUALA LUMPUR: Asia’s oldest football competition, the Merdeka Tournament is set to be revived next year but it could be rebranded as well.
This is due to an ever growing, hectic global football calendar which does not permit the Merdeka Tournament to be held closer to the date of its goal — which is to celebrate Malaysia’s Independence Day on Aug 31.
As a result, the FA of Malaysia (FAM) will have to stage the Merdeka Tournament, which was inaugurated in 1957, on March 18-26 (during the Fifa window) instead of the auspicious month of August.
FAM secretary general Stuart Ramalingam said: “It’s a working title. When we come closer to March, we need to confirm teams, budget, venue and that is all coming together now.
“We might find a sponsor for the event and be able to commercialise it too. From there, it might be called that (Merdeka Tournament) or something else.
“If we have it closer to Merdeka Day, it would be nice.
“Many years ago there weren’t that many matches and a lot of quality teams came (for the Merdeka Tournament) but now it’s very different,” he said.
Stuart stressed that the 2019 Merdeka Tournament is still in the planning stages, and FAM will only disclose more information later.
However, he disclosed that the competition is set to feature four teams, and FAM want to invite teams from outside the Asean region.
He said FAM’s priority will be to invite countries from East and West Asia. So far, India, Taiwan and Indonesia are keen to participate.
The Merdeka Tournament was last held in 2013 after a four-year lapse (2009-2012). The national Under-23 team emerged as champions in 2013, beating Myanmar Under-23 in Kuantan.
The Merdeka Tournament, which started in 1957, has attracted the national teams of Iraq, South Korea, Japan, Kuwait, Ghana, New Zealand, and clubs from Brazil and Argentina.
Malaysia have won the competition eight times and emerged as runners-up eight times while South Korea emerged as champions five times and were runners-up thrice.