FIFA President Gianni Infantino has met with the head of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in New York City, to discuss past collaborative successes, and identify joint opportunities for the two organisations in the future. The meeting – which took place in New York City, where both are present for the 77th United Nations General Assembly – provided an opportunity to first reflect on the successful initiatives already delivered under the commitments outlined within a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which was signed in November 2019.

The main areas of collaboration within the MoU include the promotion of sports integrity, using sport as a vehicle for development and professional capacity building – and a commitment for expansion and engagement with FIFA’s Football for Schools programme across the region. Among the successful projects up for discussion and already delivered, was the August 2021 launch of #ReachOut in Southeast Asia, a joint initiative to promote mental health within sport across ASEAN.

Another fruitful collaboration discussed was a joint webinar to promote inclusivity within sport. The session provided a platform to promote inclusive access for disabled people to football stadia and sports facilities in the ASEAN region. In addition to successful projects already delivered, President Infantino and Mr Lim also identified future opportunities to build the partnership further. This included exploring possibility of rolling out FIFA’s Talent Development Scheme within in the ASEAN region. The meeting concluded with Mr Infantino and Mr Lim discussing opportunities for capacity building – a key pillar of the MoU – around the upcoming FIFA U-20 World Cup Indonesia 2023™ – which will take place across six host cities between 20 May and 11 June 2023.