The All-India Football Federation (AIFF) president Kalyan Chaubey has said that his "request to restart Merdeka Cup" -- the friendly football tournament -- has been welcomed by Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) chief Datuk Haji Hamidin Bin Haji Mohd Amin.
The AIFF chief took to Twitter to share the news. IANS has learned that the friendly tournament will kickstart next year and India will participate in it.
"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. Thank you@FAM_Malaysia," he tweeted.
Merdeka is Asia's oldest football tournament which has invited football-playing nations to compete since 1957. As per reports, after the 1980s, interest in the cup waned from both football fans and football teams, because many Asian nations focused more on the qualification phases in FIFA World Cup and AFC Asian Cup.