Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Kuala Lumpur: The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) will send a high-level delegation led by AFC Senior Vice President Praful Patel to visit Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in early January 2018.
The AFC Executive Committee decided, when meeting in Bangkok, Thailand, in late November, that the delegation should visit football officials in the Member Associations and Government representatives to explain decisions taken by the AFC committees and the principles of the AFC competition rules and regulations.
Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, the AFC President, recused himself from adjudicating on issues in the West Zone to maintain the AFC’s high standards of integrity and good governance and Mr Patel’s appointment to oversee such matters was endorsed by the AFC Executive Committee.
Mr Patel will be joined on the visits by Mariano Araneta Jr, FIFA Council and AFC Executive Committee Member, as well as Member of the AFC Competitions Committee. They will be supported by AFC Director of Competitions Shin Man Gil.
The AFC is also to appoint an independent security agency to re-assess the overall safety and security situation in the Middle East.