AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes (fourth from right) posing with the Malaysian Paralympians who won medals at the …

Reporting from Kuala Lumpur

Propelling Asean’s athletes toward global success by developing their skills from the grassroots level.

That’s the bold aim of Tony Fernandes, AirAsia Group CEO, who wants to set up sports academies sponsored by the Malaysian budget airline across the Asean region.

Speaking exclusively to Yahoo Singapore, Fernandes said he plans to set up the first academy with a focus on football, a sport that is close to the heart of the owner of English Championship team Queens Park Rangers (QPR).

Fernandes, who was at an event in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday (11 October) to honour Asean’s medal-winning Paralympians, said the academies would target the development of regional athletes from a very young age.

Using his experience at QPR as an example, Fernandes said that an AirAsia-backed football academy could be the platform for the next Asean star player to emerge.

"Who knows, maybe the next Park Ji-sung could be unearthed in the region," he added, referring to the South Korean midfielder who played for Manchester United and QPR previously.

Fernandes was speaking after the Asean Heroes 2016 award ceremony at the Asian Aviation Centre of Excellence in Sepang, Kuala Lumpur.

The event saw the region’s medal winners from the recent Rio Paralympics awarded with free flights from AirAsia. Gold medalists were given a lifetime of free flights, while silver and bronze medalists were given five and three years of free flights, respectively.

Fernandes said he has yet to decide which country will be chosen as the location of the first sports academy.

Besides football, Fernandes said he was interested in setting up academies for sports such as badminton and swimming. He stressed that AirAsia will be “looking at quality and not quantity” when helping Asean athletes.

When asked if AirAsia would sponsor a major sporting event, like the upcoming Asean Football Federation Championship, Fernandes shook his head and said, “Plenty of people want to invest in those (events). Our money would be better spent on helping the community (through sports). We would rather put our money into the grassroots."

Earlier in his speech at the event, Fernandes said that in the past 15 years, AirAsia has sponsored sporting teams such as QPR and the Caterham Formula One team. For the next 15 years, the airline is committed to developing athletes in Asean.

Among the region’s athletes that Fernandes is hoping to help toward their success are the Paralympians. Expressing pride in the performance of the Asean Paralympians in Rio, Fernandes said that the grit shown by the athletes at the Games had moved him to tears.

"I am super proud of you guys and I would like to thank you for making an old man like me happy," Fernandes said.