THOUGH the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) have extended the bid deadline for the 2027 Asian Cup hosting job, FAM are not interested.
On Thursday, AFC announced that the bid deadline of March 31 has been delayed to June 30 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
This is to give more time to AFC member nations to prepare their bids.
FAM secretary general Stuart Ramalingam said Malaysia is unlikely to join the bidding amid the latest development.
“We are not yet ready to host the Asian Cup.
“We need the government’s involvement and at this juncture, it’s not the right time to look that way,” he said yesterday.
So far, Saudi Arabia is the only country that has announced its Asian Cup candidacy while India has shown interest after the new deadline announcement. China will host the 2023 Asian Cup.
Malaysia have qualified for three Asian Cups finals — in 1976, 1980 and 2007.
On another matter, Stuart said the joint Asean bid for the 2034 World Cup hosting job has been put on hold due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore and Vietnam are part of the joint bid.
“There was supposed to be a meeting last month in Indonesia but it has been postponed,” said Stuart.
The joint Asean bid taskforce is to be led by a chairman from Thailand with Malaysia as the operational base.
Sports ministry officials from the Asean countries, involved in the joint World Cup bid, were supposed to have met in Indonesia last month.
Fifa president Gianni Infantino has earlier given the thumbs-up for the joint Asean bid with the World Cup set to be expanded from 32 to 48 teams in 2026.
Qatar will host the 2022 World Cup while Canada, Mexico and the United States will be co-hosts for the 2026 World Cup.