Cindy hails from a village in Gunung (Mountain) Kidul, located southeast of Jogyakarta, Indonesia, and it was in her village that she discovered the joys of playing football despite receiving strong opposition from her brother.

“I loved football the moment I joined my brother when he played the sport in primary school. In the beginning, he did not allow me to play football but asked me to cook instead because it was a rough sport. I cried then,” she recalled.

Lau was filled with pride when she received news on her appointment as one of four female match commissioners for the Asian Qualifiers – the first-time females were appointed to take charge of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and AFC Asian Cup China 2023 Joint Qualifiers.

“I’ve been in charge of other men’s competitions like the AFC Champions League and I was also involved in the FIFA World Cup in Russia as a security officer, so the experience has equipped me to take up this challenge,” she said.

“Expectations are higher when you are the match commissioner for the Asian Qualifiers, but the teams are very co-operative and supportive. But everything went smoothly, and I really cherish the experience.”

Kashuba enjoyed a notable playing career for Kyrgyz Republic and after hanging up her boots, she is now striving to make a difference in the sport as the women’s football manager in her country.

Respected by her peers and looked up to by young female footballers, Kashuba rose through the ranks by representing her national team in the U-16 and U-19 women’s competitions before playing at the club level in Kyrgyz Republic.

She looks back fondly at how she started playing football and the memories serve as a reminder of how important her current position is.

The AFC Women’s Football Day today, which coincides with International Women’s Day, underlines the AFC’s commitment to honour and salute the contribution of women in the sport.

This year, 41 MAs, which is an increase from 30 in 2018, including Korea Republic, China PR, India and newcomers Australia, Bahrain and Brunei Darussalam unite in support of AFC Women’s Football Day by organising festivals, tournaments, workshops, skills clinics and seminars.

The three-day conference, with more than 70 participants from the AFC Member Associations, covered various important topics including key case studies from expert speakers from FIFA and UEFA who shared insights, ideas and future plans for the sport.

The 2nd AFC Women’s Football Conference started on a lively note with the keynote session themed ‘Dare to Dream’ setting the tone before FIFA shared its blueprint on women’s football development in Asia.

Through the introduction of various initiatives for its 47 Member Associations, the growth of women’s football has witnessed impressive results. Since 2007, the participation of Member Associations in the qualifiers of the AFC U-16 and AFC U-19 Women’s Championships have increased by 70 per cent and 63 per cent respectively.