The programme, led by FIFA, UEFA & AFC Fitness Instructor Magni Mohr, saw participants from 32 Member Associations attending the course which focused on topics on how to improve the fitness of footballers through training and nutrition.

With the ever-evolving fitness trend in football, the AFC Fitness Coaching Tutors Course was an opportunity for fitness coaching tutors and fitness coaches to listen from experts and learn from the latest research on football fitness while also exchanging ideas with peers.

Combining the best standards in theory and practice, the four-day course was led by internationally recognised goalkeeping coach and tutor Frans Hoek, formerly of Manchester United, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and the national teams of Netherlands and Poland, with a specific focus on strengthening the development of specialist coaches.

12 Member Association representatives who were in attendance, deliberated on key issues of the AFC Coaching Convention and its implementation with the aim of increasing Member Associations (MAs) endorsements.

Coach Education influences all aspects of development and it impacts on the quality of the game. MA programmes provide an opportunity for tomorrow’s coaches to learn and to develop.

At the meeting, 23 new applications for the Convention were acknowledged, and the panel members were appointed to begin the evaluation process.

Gerard Houllier, the former France and Liverpool coach, joined the coaching talent which included former AFC Asian Cup winning coach Ange Postecoglou, who won the 2015 AFC Asian Cup with Australia and now coaches Yokohama F Marinos in Japan.

Last year’s beaten finalist AFC Champions League with Persepolis, Branko Ivankovic, (now with Saudi Arabia’s Al Ahli), Iceland’s Heimir Hallgrimsson who coaches Al-Arabi in Qatar and Gabriel Calderon, now Persepolis in the Islamic Republic of Iran, represented the West.