Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
The Asian Football Confederation has given its backing for a new FIFA and a new FIFA President who can bring stability, leadership, experience, ideas, credibility and, above all, football back to the very heart of the world governing body.
Speaking today, AFC President Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa said: “FIFA is in a very difficult position right now. In order to stabilise it needs leadership, experience and new ideas, but above all it needs football to be placed at its heart. Hopefully a new President can bring many of these things, which is why it is so important for Asia to remain as united as possible behind the single best candidate for football, regardless of where they are from.
“We have of course noted Michel Platini’s decision to stand, and he is certainly a unique candidate who would bring stability and a smooth transition to normality for FIFA in this difficult situation.”
“Yet we should also remember that the FIFA President is only one part of FIFA, which is why it is so important to get the reforms right as well. Everybody accepts the need for change in FIFA, and in addition to changing the President much of the rest of FIFA’s organisation and the way it functions need to be modernised as well. FIFA also needs someone who can take the best of the past, fuse it with new ideas, and so take the organisation into the future. ”
The AFC has been in contact with FIFA and its sister Confederations to discuss the future of FIFA and the best way forward.