KUALA

LUMPUR:

The AFC Women’s Committee met yesterday under the chairmanship of Dato’ Worawi Makudi and marked the end of its five-year (2002-2007) term Wednesday by taking stock of its many achievements in the development of women's football across Asia.

Meeting on the sidelines of the ongoing AFC U-16 Women’s Championship in Malaysia, the Committee made a number of key decisions to continue the commitment to ensuring that the women's game in Asia remains a global leader. AFC's achievements in women's football were praised by neutral observer, Tatieana Haenni, FIFA Women’s Football Manager, who was invited to attend the meeting. “Along with UEFA, AFC is amongst the two strongest confederations in women’s football development. AFC and UEFA are the only two to have submitted dates for the 2007 international match calendar for women’s football,” said Haenni.

“This was the last women's committee meeting in this term and I would like to express my sincere thanks to all members for their support in developing women's football in Asia,” said Dato Worawi in his closing remarks.

“We have created almost the same competitions for women as the men, including the ongoing AFC U-16 Women's Championship, and this is a clear result of our hard work.”

The following matters were discussed: - The committee reviewed the performance of Asian teams overall and noted the first leg win of Japan over Mexico in the playoff for a place in the FIFA Women’s World Cup in China later this year. - The members were informed that eighteen elite Asian women referees have been selected for two of FIFA’s elite referees courses, underlining the improvement of women referees in Asia. - The committee members were also given an overview of the inaugural annual AFC Women’s Awards, the first of its kindd by any confederation to honour and reward women players, officials and coaches for their performance. This will be held on 6th November 2007 in Kuala Lumpur. - The committee was informed that the AFC U-19 Women’s Championship 2007 (October 5-16, 2007) would be held in Chongqing, China pending an official AFC inspection visit instead of the previously proposed venue of Yiwu. - To develop women’s football in Asia, the committee agreed to appoint one female administrator in each Member Association dedicated to women’s football, introduce AFC Festivals of Football for U13/14 girls. The first U-13 Festival for Girls will be organized in 2009.