Hamidin Amin proposes annual youth FIFA tournaments in ASEAN meeting with Gianni Infantino

The Malaysian FA (FAM) president Datuk Hamidin Amin has proposed several suggestions to the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) chief Gianni Infantino, in a meeting held on Wednesday.

According to the FAM social media, Hamidin attended the video conference with Infantino, along with other FIFA association members from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region.

His first proposal was for the world football governing body to admit more member countries into its various committees.

"As FIFA has 211 member countries, I suggest that FIFA open the door to more member associations to be appointed to the nine standing committees of FIFA.

"Infantino welcomes this proposal and says there will be an in-depth dialogue on this matter in the future," said Hamidin as quoted in the social media post.

His second suggestion concerned youth competitions.

“I also recommended various youth tournaments under the FIFA banner to be held on a yearly basis instead to the current biennial system. This will give more opportunities for every generation of footballers to be exposed to more competitive international matches via the qualifiers and the final rounds. 

"Infantino replied that FIFA is always in discussions with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and it depends on the current situation, at this time especially after October," he noted.

Malaysia U-19 in the AFC U-19 Championship finals in 2018. Photo from AFC

The meeting participants also discussed matters of football in their own countries amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.

Hamidin is set to attend the 70th FIFA Congress, which is also set to be held virtually on September 18.