Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Paris: Welcome to Paris for this AFC Extraordinary Congress 2019 and Eid Mubarak to you all.
A warm welcome to you FIFA President Gianni Infantino, and congratulations from the Asian football family. We are delighted that later this week you will be confirmed for another term as FIFA President. Asia and the AFC look forward to continuing our work with you.
As we all know the focus of world football turns to Asia in the next few years, and Mr President you can be assured that the game is in safe hands.
I will return to this topic later but for now a warm welcome to you all.
Two weeks ago, Sultan Ahmad Shah, the former President of the Asian Football Confederation, sadly passed away.
As President of the AFC and the Football Association of Malaysia and the ASEAN Football Federation he was an important figure in the rise of football on this Continent.
So now please join me in recognising his enormous contribution to the game.
But before I hand over to the General Secretary, I would like us all to join in observing a minute’s silence in memory of one the great men of Asian football.