Asian Football Confederation general secretary Peter Velappan said in an interview with The Japan Times that the AFC is aiming to boost the sport in the region with the launch of a new Asian Super League and also hopes to bring next year's World Cup cohosts closer together with the establishment of a new youth exchange program.

Speaking of the new Asian Super League, Velappan noted: "It seems we need to redo the whole thing to give it new life.

"We want to encourage Asian clubs to be more professional and dynamic in order to develop (soccer) in their respective countries."

According to Velappan, the two Asian club tournaments -- the Asian Club Championship and the Asian Cup Winners' Cup -- will be combined as the Asian Super League in August 2002. The Asian Club Championship started in 1967, although it wasn't held between 1972-84, while the Asian Cup Winners' Cup has been running since 1990.

The AFC is putting together a blueprint of the new Super League, which is expected to be approved at an AFC meeting next month.

Velappan said the annual Asian Super League will be open to all teams in Asia but teams will start from different stages according to their status. If the lower-ranked amateur teams advance successfully, they will meet the semipro and pro teams later in the tournament.

"The system in Europe is easy because the teams are all professional," Velappan explained. "Here, we have quite a mixed bag, but we want everybody to be able to participate in this new competition.

"At the same time, we'd like to avoid games where teams run up big scores, 15-0 or 16-0, which is not healthy and not good motivation for anybody.

"The idea is to try to make it as good as the European Champions' League."

Velappan hopes that the merging of the two tournaments will create a more workable Asian competition calendar, which many top soccer officials have criticized as chaotic.

"There are lots of factors such as climate that have to be taken into consideration and we cannot produce a perfect calendar," Velappan continued. "But (the new Asian calendar) will protect the national leagues, which are the backbone of the sport in each country.

"We will ensure that national leagues are not interrupted by Asian club or other competitions."

Velappan also serves as FIFA's 2002 World Cup Organizing Committee coordination director.

"The 2002 World Cup is a dream come true for Asia," he noted. "It's also the first World Cup to be hosted by two countries. Naturally, the world is watching whether the two countries will cooperate together to make a success of this event."

The two hosts recently had problems with the order of names of the tournament title and with ticket sales over the Internet. Velappan, however, described these problems as "hiccups."

"Both (hosts) are pretty committed," Velappan emphasized. "It will be one World Cup but will be a typical Korean style World Cup in Korea and a Japanese one in Japan, and at the same time, the uniqueness of the World Cup will be preserved."

The 65-year-old Malaysian, who is very much aware of the historical background of South Korea and Japan, said the AFC will help the two nations by introducing a new youth exchange program. In the program, youngsters from South Korea and Japan will visit the other country and stay with a local family, experiencing the lifestyle, learning the culture and fostering good relations between the two hosts.

"Given the special nature of Korea and Japan politically, we are developing the program with the Japan Football Association and the Korean Football Association, building a bridge for Korea and Japan through youth," Velappan explained.

"Hopefully, they can stay with families, exchange experiences, letters and postcards and foster a good relationship.

"The old generation can't forget the war and historical problems, but the young generation can look at the future and look at Korea and Japan in a new era," Velappan said.