India withdraws from FIFA ASEAN cup affecting Singapore group

SINGAPORE – Before a ball has been kicked, the inaugural FIFA ASEAN Cup suffered another blow when world No. 138 India announced their withdrawal from the Sept 24-Oct 3 tournament.

According to multiple Indian news outlets, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) decided to pull out as they have a first international friendly against five-time world champions Brazil in Kolkata on Oct 3, the day of the ASEAN Cup Premier Division final.

The Straits Times has reached out to the AIFF, whose president Kalyan Chaubey told The Times of India on Aug 12: “We are unable to participate in the FIFA ASEAN Cup due to our commitment with the Brazil football federation.

“There were technical issues too, since only four games can be played during the window. We have informed FIFA and officials are aware of why we were forced to take this decision.

“Playing Brazil is perhaps a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Indian players. It’s something that can promote the sport across our country.”

The latest development leaves Group A of the Premier Division with just three teams – Singapore (148th), Malaysia (136th) and hosts Indonesia (118th). It remains to be seen if FIFA will appoint a replacement for India.

In July, China (91st) also turned their backs on the FIFA ASEAN Cup to play in a warm-up tournament against Uzbekistan (60th), Palestine (95th), Tajikistan (101st) and North Korea (120th) to prepare for the 2027 Asian Cup.

They were replaced by 198th-ranked Pakistan in Group B, which also features Thailand (94th), Vietnam (99th) and the Philippines (135th). This raised eyebrows as Pakistan are ranked lower than all but one team in the ASEAN Cup’s second-tier Challenge Division, where Group A comprises hosts Hong Kong (156th), Myanmar (158th) and Brunei (194th).

Group B consists of Cambodia (175th), Laos (185th) and Timor-Leste (201st).

While Singapore are the lowest-ranked side in Group A, there are concerns that the ASEAN Cup may not provide the Lions with an appropriate test ahead of the Asian Cup, and it may also not turn out to be the high-profile competition that it was intended to be.

One redeeming factor is that teams can call up their best players from clubs as the competition is held in a FIFA international window.

When asked about the competition quality, Football Association of Singapore deputy president Desmond Ong said: “It’s a bit premature to comment as I’m sure the organisers will want to kick off the inaugural tournament in the best possible way.

“Having committed to the tournament, we will want to use it in the best possible way as part of our continuing preparation for the Asian Cup.”

In October 2025, FIFA president Gianni Infantino announced the launch of the new tournament for 11 South-east Asian teams on the sidelines of the 47th ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur.

Five months later, FIFA said in a statement that the competition will be played in the Sept 21-Oct 6 international window.

ST also reported that there was some clarity from the sidelines of the FIFA Congress in Vancouver, Canada, on April 30, through the circulation of slides that confirmed the tournament format.

There will not be any semi-finals after the round-robin games. Instead, the group winners will play each other to determine each division’s champions, while the runners-up will face off for third and fourth spots, meaning each team will play two to four matches.

From documents seen by ST, the Premier Division winners can expect to receive US$1 million (S$1.3 million) in prize money from FIFA.

That is more than three times the US$300,000 that the ASEAN Football Federation awarded Vietnam for winning the 2024 ASEAN Championship.

The Challenge Division champions will get US$300,000, while every team can expect a guaranteed US$125,000 participation fee and also earn bonuses for each win or draw.

Including rewards for runners-up and third-place finishers, the prize purse is expected to exceed US$4 million.

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