National football observer, Mohamad Kusnaeni hopes that PSSI will carry out diplomacy from an early age with its members FCAespecially ASEAN, West and South Asia to welcome Asian Cup 2023.

According to him, this diplomacy is very important for Indonesia to successfully host the 2023 Asian Cup.

Now Indonesia must compete with Australia, South Korea and Qatar to host the 2023 Asian Cup.

The AFC has given the potential host country a deadline to fulfill the conditions until August 31, 2022. This means that the potential host country has only less than two months.

After that, there will be an evaluation process until the final determination process. The decision to host the 2023 Asian Cup will be announced on October 17 by the 24 teams and the AFC Executive Committee.

“We will certainly be politically supported by the countries of Southeast Asia because we are used to it. But it will not be enough. The influential voices are in West Asia, such as Kuwait, Saudi Arabia” , Kusnaeni said.

“So Indonesia must be able to embrace West Asian countries apart from Qatar. Even though Qatar is West Asian, it doesn’t really get along with other Arabs. That’s why we must be able to embrace West Asia,” Kusnaeni added.

High-level diplomacy like what PSSI and the government did before hosting the U-20 World Cup 2021 (2023) could be an example. In this case PSSI guerrilla warped carefully.

“Polynesia will definitely support Australia. Another thing we can embrace is South Asian countries. We have close emotional relationships with India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and others,” he said. said Kusnaeni.

“Here, the role of the PSSI Foreign Affairs President must play a role. The diplomatic role of the PSSI must therefore be strengthened. The approach is therefore the diplomacy of football and tourism. Our cultural wealth stand out,” he said.

The man who usually goes by the name of Bung Kus added that in the presentation of PSSI there was no need to show the football infrastructure and elements. This is a weak point, because Korea, Qatar and Australia are far superior.

“Indonesia as a ‘crazy football country’ should be highlighted. Indonesia is not a country that excels but is football crazy. It should be highlighted,” Bung Kus told CNNIndonesia.com.

“If we are ready to host, the first is the support of the government, the second is the preparation of the infrastructure, the third is the ranking of the relevant country, the fourth is our advantage of euphoria, the enthusiasm of the fans “, added Bung Kus.

(abs/right)