THE ASEAN foreign ministers meeting at Lombok Island in West Nusa Tenggara province last week turned out to be quite productive. Besides setting out their agenda for the year, the ministers came up with a bombshell of an announcement: ASEAN will bid to host the 2030 FIFA World Cup. Instead of the usual single country hosting this global event, if ASEAN really gets to host it, the football competitions will be held in the 10 member countries.

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