All India Football Federation (AIFF) president Kalyan Chaubey has requested his Malaysian counterpart Dato Haji Hamidin bin Haji Mohd Amin to restart the once-popular Merdeka Cup in which the Indian team used to be a regular feature.
It has been learnt that the Football Association of Malaysia, which used to organise the tournament, is working on a 2023 restart during the Fifa window available in September-October. The tournament was discontinued after the 2013 edition.
“The #MerdekaCup had created so many opportunities for #IndianFootbal in the past. My request to restart this tournament & have INDIA as one of the invitee participants was warmly greeted by FA Malaysia President Dato Haji Hamidin bin Haji Mohd. Amin,” Chaubey tweeted.
Chaubey and secretary general Shaji Prabhakaran were in Kuala Lumpur for a meeting with Asian Football Confederation (AFC) president Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa on Friday.
India had finished runners-up in 1959 and 1964, losing to the hosts and Burma respectively, in the two finals.
Earlier this month, the AIFF signed a deal with the Saudi Arabian Football Federation to hold Santosh Trophy in the west Asian country for three years.
