Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Kuala Lumpur: AFC President Shaikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa has expressed his confidence that the new three-pronged development programme, the AFC President's Initiatives for Asian Football 2014, will further enhance the work being done at all levels by Members Associations.
The programme, which features at its core a Mini Pitch Scheme, a Competition Fund and the newly-established AFC Expert Pool, have been created to further encourage and support Member Associations to develop more infrastructure and host qualifying tournaments for AFC competitions.
"It's with great pleasure that I introduced these three new projects designed to support our Member Associations in strengthening football in their countries," said the AFC President, who announced the proposals to the delegates at the recently held AFC Extraordinary Congress in Sao Paulo.
"While our Member Associations continue to achieve great things on and off the pitch, I am very much aware that the AFC needs to invest resources to raise the standard further.
"With the new projects, I believe we are taking the first steps towards overcoming some of the challenges faced by our Member Associations in the key areas of infrastructure, financial assistance for national team football and expertise in specific areas of football administration."
The new initiatives will see the AFC assist further in delivering football infrastructure while also providing funds to financially constrained federations that have not hosted AFC qualifying tournaments within the previous four years.
In addition, the AFC will also provide expert human resource support to Member Associations in an effort to develop new projects or for associations facing significant challenges.
Called the AFC Expert Pool, federations will be able to seek assistance from a consultant in administration of their association or their league, football technical development, marketing and match day operations.
"These are all areas which can assist the Member Associations of AFC in their overall football development," added AFC General Secretary Dato' Alex Soosay.
"The introduction of the Mini Pitch scheme, for example, will increase the number of facilities available for grassroots and community football while the establishment of the Competition Fund will provide a contribution towards hosting qualifying tournaments.
"With this initial investment by the AFC, it is anticipated that more football stakeholders will understand the range of benefits and would subsequently provide additional investment in this scheme."