Gianni Infantino has met with the President of the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM), Datuk Haji Hamidin Bin Haji Mohd Amin, in Doha, to discuss a wide range of football development matters – as well as the upcoming FIFA World Cup™, which kicks off in Qatar on 20 November. The two presidents were able to look ahead to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™, which begins when the host nation faces Ecuador on 20 November 2022. It will be the first edition of the tournament to take place in the Arab world, and the second time it has taken place in Asia – 20 years after it first visited the world’s most populated continent, in 2002.

As well as the action on the field, the matter of legacy was also discussed – and how best to use the platform of the FIFA World Cup™ as a catalyst not only to inspire a country or region, but a continent – and eventually help to increase global competitiveness on the international stage; a key part of President Infantino’s vision to make football truly global. In addition to the upcoming tournament, President Infantino and Datuk Haji Hamidin Bin Haji Mohd Amin also reflected on a wide range of football development projects already taking place across Malaysia. FAM has actively engaged the FIFA Forward programme – the mechanism by which FIFA distributes its revenues to its 211 member associations to assist with football development projects – and the two presidents were able to reflect on the diverse work carried out to date. This includes the continued support of futsal and women’s leagues within Malaysia, as well as the recent renovation of FAM’s headquarters and training centre – which included the installation of an all-weather pitch, a grass pitch with floodlights and an upgrade of the member association’s futsal arena. The work carried out by FIFA across Asia – which is supported by its regional development office in Kuala Lumpur – was also discussed, as was the extensive work done with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), of which Malaysia is a member.