At the second AFC Executive Committee meeting of the 2019-2023 cycle, chaired by longest-serving AFC Vice President and FIFA Council member, Saoud Al Mohannadi, in the absence of President Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, it was decided to grow the two competitions.

From the 2021 season, the AFC Champions League will be expanded to 40 clubs with an extra group of four being added in both the East and West zones and further growing the reputation of one of the richest Continental club competitions in the world.

The Committee, chaired by Mahfuza Ahkter Kiron, met ahead of Saturday’s AFC U-16 Women’s Championship Thailand 2019 final, which will see DPR Korea compete against Japan in Chonburi.

Following their 2018 recommendation of the establishment of an AFC women’s club competition, the Committee agreed on a series of competition regulations, with the pilot edition, set to involve the champion clubs from four Member Associations - Australia, China PR, Japan and Korea Republic - to be staged on a round-robin basis from November 26 to 30, 2019.

The agreement follows a process involving the input of both the AFC Technical Division and AFC Competitions Department, with the AFC Women’s Club Championship considered a vital step forward in women’s club football throughout the Continent.

The AFC and AIPS have a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) until 2021 that is focused on developing the skills of football journalists throughout Asia. 

The AIPS Asia delegation was led by President Sattam Al Sehali, and was joined by First Vice President Jung Hee-Don, Vice President Ahmad Khawari Isa and General Secretary Amjad Aziz Malik. 

The meeting was on the eve of the inaugural Selangor International Sports Summit 2019 & Awards for Asia 2018 event, aimed at giving recognition to the best athletes and sports teams in the region.

In his opening remarks, Chairperson H.E. Du Zhaocai paid tribute to the Continent’s officials, noting their commendable performance and achievements on the world’s biggest stages.

He said: “Referee development is a key focus for the AFC and Asian referees are already world-class. Our role in this Committee is to ensure our officials continue to improve.

“We must increase the elite referees and raise the overall standards in Asia and to achieve this, we must give our Member Associations the best chance to succeed.”

Strengthening the foundations for its Member Associations, the Committee were updated on the progress of the AFC Referee Academy, which is already making a significant impact on expanding the AFC’s talent pool, with as many as seven officials registered on the FIFA International list since its launch in November 2017.

The Committee also noted the highly successful implementation of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system, introduced for the first time from the quarterfinals of the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019, which also saw a record of 60 match officials appointed for the competition. From a total of 81 checks and six reviews, the VAR system improved the accuracy of decision-making by 4.9 percent

As part of efforts to raise the competency standards of fitness instructors across the Continent, the Committee agreed to accredit top fitness instructors, which will ensure a more stringent and comprehensive selection process while raising the quality and level of consistency.

Moving forward, the Committee agreed that only certified fitness instructors will be appointed to the AFC’s refereeing development activities and competitions.

Members also approved the recommendation to re-designate the current AFC certified Referee Instructors as Elite Referee Instructors, recognising their role and status within the AFC’s Referee Instructors panel.

Chaired by Salem Said Salem Al Wahaibi, the Committee heard of AFC President Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa’s President’s Development Initiative, the President’s Infrastructure Initiative as well as the Technical Staff Initiative and Football Administration Certificate (FAC).

The Committee learnt that 15 Member Associations (MAs) had benefited from the Development Initiative, 23 Mini Pitches were delivered to eight MAs in 2018 while FAC Editions Four and Five saw 42 graduates from 19 MAs and Editions Six and Seven 47 participants from 23 MAs – with Turkmenistan and Syria represented for the first time.

A total of 12 infrastructure projects were approved in 2018 and a further 24 this year under the President’s Infrastructure Initiative while 30 MAs applied for funding under the President’s Technical Staff Initiative of which 22 have been accepted so far.