A joint Asean bid for the 2034 Fifa World Cup would be a marquee event to help unify countries in the region, according to Malaysian Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.
Qatar University stadium, one of the proposed 2022 World Cup venues.
"If you ask the average Thai, or Malaysian, whether they feel Asean or not, I'm sure the answer will be 'no'," Jamaluddin said at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand last week.
"Building an Asean community has to be more than just about government communication, it has to be more than just government to government meetings. It has to be about people to people, feeling that they are a part of an Asean community.
"Sometimes you need an iconic event to trigger that. I think that hosting the World Cup, the oneness of being a host to the world, will be able to help us do that."
Malaysian Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin.
Politicians and sports officials from several Asean countries, including Thailand, have voiced their support for a joint bid for the world's premier football competition.
Jamaluddin said he recently spoke with his political counterparts from Singapore, Indonesia and Brunei about the idea and all were keen about it.
However, the Malaysian minister noted there were still questions to be answered such as which member states would take part in the bid.
"It is now a matter of getting the football federations on board to talk to each other and presenting their respective governments with a proposal about how we are going to put the pieces together," he said.
The planned project would face additional hurdles such as which nation would host the opening and final games and in what might prove to be the most contentious issue _ how many countries would receive automatic berths for the tournament as hosts.
No Asean countries have ever reached the World Cup finals.
The World Cup has been staged only once in Asia when South Korea and Japan co-hosted the 2002 finals and both automatically earned berths in the tournament as hosts.
Fifa president Sepp Blatter.
While the 2002 World Cup went smoothly in general, there were some problems such as transportation and Fifa has said it may no longer accept a joint bid.
Qatar will host the 2022 World Cup after it beat fellow countries in the region _ South Korea, Japan and Australia which is a member of the Asian Football Confederation.
Asean initially considered a bid for the 2026 World Cup but with Qatar to stage the 2022 finals, Asia's next chance to host football's top tournament would be in 2034.
Some observers believe Japan, South Korea and Australia would be the better bets than Asean to be selected as the next Asian representative to stage the World Cup.
"It might not be easy," admitted Jamaluddin. "Other events aimed at unifying Asean nations, like the SEA Games, have proven to be divisive and argument-filled as member states have struggled to reach a consensus on key issues."
Jamaluddin admitted that it might be a "nightmare" to smooth out the details but said the region would be a great host for the tournament.
"I think Southeast Asia is one of the biggest football-loving regions in the world," he said.
"I think it would be a tremendous event if we could get it."