AFC President Mohamed Bin Hammam (second from left) answering a question during the press conference in Kolkata on Sunday as AIFF President Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi (second from right), AFC Deputy General Secretary Dato' Paul Mony Samuel (extreme left) and AFC Media Officer Rukmal Perera look on. Photo by: AFC/Stanley Chou

KOLKATA: AFC President Mohamed Bin Hammam has stressed the need to build stronger domestic leagues in Asia in order to achieve success at the world level.

Talking to the media here on Sunday, Bin Hammam said: “We are at the beginning stage in Asia and our football is trying to find its way forward. A lot of work needs to be done at the grassroots level. At the moment it’s far from satisfactory but we need time to get results,” he said.

Regarding the legalisation of betting in the game, he said: “We are trying at the FIFA level to legalise betting in countries where it is popular because it is the only way to weed out corruption. We have requested the governments to legalise betting, and Hong Kong and Singapore have already legalised betting.”

About Asian teams’ performance at the FIFA World Cup 2006, he said: “The performance of Asian teams was not as expected due to lack of strong domestic leagues. The domestic competitions need to be stronger. About 99.9 percent of football in Asia is amateurish and only three countries – Japan , Australia and Korea Republic – come close to the best European leagues.”

He said looking at the performance of Asian teams in the FIFA World Cup, four-and-a-half berths for Asia are justified. “Even for the 2010 World Cup we will not ask for more. The present quota is absolutely justified.”

He said Vision Asia was the first step in a 1000-mile journey. “The first Vision Asia project was launched only two years back in China and we have recently launched the Manipur State League under the Vision India project. It is just the beginning and the road ahead is long.” He said a new tier in the AFC Champions League would be added by the year 2009 with the inclusion of 10 countries with professional setups. “The clubs need to develop infrastructure and recruit foreign players. The clubs should be business-oriented and this will help in their development.”

He said the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and the AFC are on the same wavelength as far as development of football in the second most populous country goes. “We are working hand-in-hand to develop football in this country and I am satisfied with the work done by the federation in this regard.”