In one of the greatest comebacks in Asian youth football history, the Central Asians displayed true grit and determination to brush aside their opening day 6-2 defeat to Malaysia before storming into their first-ever final, and in doing so, secured their place amongst the world’s elite in the FIFA U-17 World Cup Peru 2019.

The achievement was even more impressive considering the challenges in football infrastructure facing the football-loving nation, particularly in the country’s football capital – the Republican Central Stadium.

Successor to the former top-tier football league in the Philippines, the PFL celebrated its inaugural season in 2017, with Ceres Negros clinching the title.

PFF President Mariano V. Araneta Jr. was presented with the award by AFC Development Committee Chairman Zhang Jian after the 28th AFC Congress in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

“This is an award that will inspire us to improve our league, and our clubs to do better. We hope that the PFL continues for many years to come,” said the PFF President.

But the War Elephants’ rise has by no means been fortuitous. Behind the scenes, the industrious and inventive engine was set in motion two years ago, when a joint Strategic Planning Mission conducted by the AFC and FIFA sparked the genesis to institute a new 20-year strategic masterplan.

Embodying the principles and outcomes of the newly-structured AFC President’s Development Initiative (PDI), the mission sought to engage FA Thailand’s key decision makers and together, identified the future goals and action plans before establishing key levers to elevate the level of professionalism and administration standards in Thailand.

 

The nine-month programme, which has been designed in collaboration with academic partner World Academy of Sport (WAoS), focuses on seven key competency modules and has benefitted an impressive 59 graduates from the first three editions since its inauguration in 2016.

“One of the key strengths is the holistic approach to the modules, and at some stage, we do begin to see that all the modules are intertwined,” said Jill Espiritu, Media and Marketing Officer at the Guam Football Association.

“When you return to the day-to-day operations in your Member Association, you also begin to build confidence in your abilities to enhance your plans and overcome future challenges. Above all, I believe that the course prepares you for personal and professional development.

“One of the key modules focuses on building a strategic plan for your Member Association, but I have learned to create a strategic plan for myself. I recognise the importance of mapping out a plan and working towards achieving my career goals and where I see myself in the next ten years,” added Espiritu, who was one of three students to receive a distinction in the recently-concluded second and third FAC editions in March 2018.

The AFC President also had a fruitful meeting with Tajikistan Football Federation (TFF) President Rustam Emomali where they discussed issues related to football development in the country as well as Central Asia.

Praising TFF’s recent achievements, Shaikh Salman said: “We are glad with the recent progress of Tajikistan football and it is all down to the visionary leadership of President Emamoli.

“We made a statutory change to separate Central Asia from previous South and Central Asia Zone and we hope the Central Asian Member Associations including Tajikistan are benefitting from this change.

“The Central Asian Members Associations have immense potential and it is being shown on the pitch. The AFC is fully committed to helping Tajikistan to scale new heights and joining the elites of Asian football.”

The consultants gathered in Kuala Lumpur to discuss and agree on a common approach on assisting the Member Associations (MA) to establish and implement a commercial and media rights strategy. 

In the long term, the consultants will facilitate and train the MA marketing staff to draft documents, tenders and contracts for their commercial and media rights. 

After the two-day workshop, they will travel to the five regions - West, Central, East, ASEAN and South in May to conduct regional workshops as a first step in assisting the MAs to exploit their commercial and media rights opportunities.

Since its inauguration in July 2016 in Bhutan, the AFC, together with partners Mycujoo, have embarked on an exciting campaign through the LSP to grow the popularity of the game, as envisaged in the AFC’s Vision and Mission, and open new possibilities for revenue generation.

The impact of the LSP over the past 18 months on the Member Associations has been undeniable. The ever-expanding platform, which now falls under the ambit of the AFC President’s Development Initiative, has been extended to an impressive 28 Member Associations across the five AFC regions.

Increasing its presence in the Continent each day, the LSP has registered a staggering 18.9 million views, connecting users from over 122 countries to 1,544 matches, ranging from the national leagues, international friendlies, to the 2018 AFC Women’s Asian Cup qualifiers, the AFC Cup preliminary stage as well as the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 qualifiers.