SINGAPORE — After putting plans on hold for several months, the organisers of the proposed Asean Super League (ASL) have rekindled talks to get the regional football competition ready for kick off next year.

A series of meetings is believed to have taken place during the past month, with various stakeholders being brought to the table as the plans reach its final phases.

According to people close to the negotiations, the ASL is likely to start in September 2017 and end in April 2018.

It will be made up of 10 teams from some of the Asean Football Federation (AFF) member nations. The AFF consists of Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, Timor Leste, Vietnam, and Singapore. It is believed Australia and Timor Leste are not part of the ASL discussions.

The defunct LionsXII, a club set up by the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) in 2011 to take part in the Malaysian domestic football competitions, but which exited the Malaysia Super League (MSL) in November 2015, will be reformed to be Singapore’s representative in the ASL.

The project is spearheaded by Zainudin Nordin, who officially stepped down from his post as FAS president on Tuesday (Nov 15), ahead of the impending FAS elections. Currently leading the ASL taskforce, Zainudin is set to be the first chief executive officer of the ASL.

An announcement is believed to be scheduled for next month.

TODAY understands that, over the past month, the taskforce has presented its plans to Malaysian and Thai football clubs in a series of visits that one Asean football official described as a “roadshow”. It is believed the taskforce will visit the Philippines and Indonesia next in its bid for a buy-in.

Since the idea of the ASL was first conceived in 2005, the work-in-progress has been plagued with various problems.

Among the issues it reportedly faces include the unwillingness of some countries to send their top teams for the competition because of fears that this might result in a drop in quality in their respective domestic leagues.

The high costs of sending a team to compete in the ASL — reportedly about S$7 million — have also made it hard for countries like Timor Leste, Laos and Cambodia to commit, with sponsors yet to be convinced by the viability of the tournament.

The league had also been unable to secure a broadcast partner.

In an interview with The Straits Times in April, the club chairman of Malaysian champions Johor Darul Takzim, Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim, said he remains unconvinced by the concept of the ASL.

“I don’t agree with the ASL,” said the Crown Prince of Johor.

“I think we’re (South-east Asian football) still young and we (should) focus on how it is done in Europe. For now, the AFC Champions League is the highest target. The ASL is not really my cup of tea.”

At a news conference in December last year, Zainudin insisted that “all 12 members of the AFF have put down in black and white that they will support the ASL”.

Zainudin stressed that the ASL would be beneficial for Singapore football, and a stepping stone for the Singapore national footballers before they make the jump to bigger leagues outside of the Asean region.

“There are many views and opinions about the ASL, and there will always be those who are for and against it,” he said.

“But this is a region of more than 600 million people and there is a lot of talent, and a lot of them aspire to go far.

“But sometimes the jump to the bigger leagues is too huge. So we need to be able to think about how we can provide and fill that vacuum, and I think the regional league is something which will be the game-changer.”