History Of The AFF Cup: ASEAN Pride Event

Passing the baton...Tengku Tan Sri Dato Series Ahmad Rithauddeen (Right), the Third President of the AFF handling over to Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah, the Fourth President of the AFF (AFF)

YOGYAKARTA - Every great story has a simple start and the same goes for the history of the ASEAN Football Federation knowing the history of the AFF trophy.

It started in 1982, which was originally an informal meeting between several ASEAN family members, turned out to be the basis of a Federation responsible for one of the world's biggest football championships, the AFF Football Championship.

The initial meeting in Bangkok was attended by Dato' Haji Hamzah Haji Abu Samah (Malaysia), Dato' Peter Velappan (AFC), Mr. Hans Pendelaki (Indonesia), Mr. Fernando G. Alvarez (Philippines), Mr. Pisit Ngampanich (Thailand), Mr. Teo Chong Tee (Singapore) and Mr Yap Boon Chuan (Singapore).

The initial idea of the meeting, which was then held among the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Executive Committee meeting in Bangkok, was to see the possibility of holding a Champions Club Competition among the Association of ASEAN Members.

It is felt that because there are big differences in the standards of football between ASEAN countries, namely between those who own and those who do not, this tournament will help close the gap between countries.

At that time, ASEAN had become a strong political entity that had hosted the Southeast Asian Sports Festival for ASEAN member countries for more than two decades.

It is felt that close cooperation at the level of football will improve the quality of football across the region and make it more competitive at meetings at the Asian and world levels.

Five further meetings from the ASEAN National Association were held next year across between Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Bangkok before the AFF was inaugurated in Kuala Lumpur.

The first meeting of the newly formed ASEAN Football Federation or AFF was held from January 31, 1984 to February 1, 1984 in Jakarta and was attended by members from Brunei DS, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, and Thailand.

The six countries concerned are members of the founding company of AFF.

The first management was chosen from the country chosen to host the first ASEAN Club Championship.

The First Elected office administrators are:

President : Mr. H. Kardono (Indonesia)

Vice President : Pengirir Ibrahim Pengiriran Damit (Brunei DS)

Honorary Secretary: Dr. Johnny JLM (Indonesia)

Honorary Treasurer : Mr. Gazzan S. Ali (Indonesia)

In line with the ideals of ASEAN's political entity that wants to strengthen ties between member countries, AFF seeks to maintain these ideals by organizing four ASEAN Club Championship editions between 1984 and 1989.

This tournament was held with the aim of determining which team will represent ASEAN at the Asian Club Championships to fight the best clubs in Asia.

Called the First ASEAN Champions Cup, the inaugural meeting in 1984 was won by the Bangkok Bank of Thailand when they defeated the Main Yanita of Indonesia 1-0 in the final at the Bung Karno Stadium in front of 80,000 fans.

With only four teams in 1985, Kuala Lumpur from Malaysia emerged as winners ahead of Tiga Berlian from Indonesia, Tiong Bahru CSC from Singapore and Rangers from Brunei.

In 1988, the ASEAN Champions Cup was held again with the Thai Air Force taking the top spot in front of Pahang while a year later, the Kuala Lumpur from Malaysia was the winner, defeating Pelita Jaya from Indonesia to fight for the crown.

But with the changing format of the Asian Club Championships held by the AFC a year later, coupled with a lack of response from member associations, as well as financial constraints, the ASEAN Champions Cup failed.

The AFF then entered a hibernating period with activities limited to most state-based development and state-based activities with participation from other ASEAN countries solely at the invitation of the host country for certain courses or seminars.

With the absence of a controlling intermediary to connect between member countries, the contact between the Asean National Associations is minimal.

Who won the most Suzuki AFF Cups?

Thailand has become the dominant power in the competition with six titles following their victory in Singapore last year.

How many times has Indonesia won the AFF?

The team has reached the final match of the AFF Championships on six occasions and has never won the tournament.

Why doesn't Australia join the AFF?

Despite joining the AFF since 2013, Australia has never competed in the AFF Championships due to its extraordinary strength compared to the remaining teams.

How many teams in the AFF?

The American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC) formed the American National Football League (NFL). Each conference has 16 teams in the United States, four in each division (North, South, East, West).

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