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 first session on day two kicked off with an interesting discussion on the digital transformation of football followed by a talk on understanding China’s digital landscape.

The growing popularity of e-sports and football was also discussed before the two-day event concluded with “The Player’s Perspective” where former players Juliano Belletti and Dario Leonardo Conca shared their views.

This is the second year Soccerex was staged in China, as it provided participants with the opportunity to share ideas and discover new business opportunities.

As part of the AFC’s commitment to help its MAs, this new initiative was launched as a platform for MAs to further improve their governance and management in football.

The introduction of the Advance 11 is aimed at helping the MAs measure and benchmark their capabilities against a set of guidelines incorporating 11 key functions which covers legal and governance, finance and risk, administration, logistic and IT, human resource, facilities management and maintenance.

The guidelines also focus on marketing and branding, commercial and business development, stakeholder relations, leadership and management of national teams and competitions and club management.

The system and methodology of the Advance 11 are designed to improve the MAs objectives and efficiencies while ultimately helping MAs to self-evaluate and identify areas which require attention and focus.

Staged for the second time in China, the two-day event started with an opening ceremony followed by engaging discussions led by expert speakers.

Participants had the opportunity to network at the exhibition hall or join in panel discussions which touched on topics such as investing in China’s football future, the importance of commercial rights to China’s economy and improving football governance and financial management.

The LaLiga also gave a presentation on how Chinese star striker Wu Lei’s arrival in Espanyol has impacted the Spanish league.

Soccerex China will welcome 1,000 participants who will join in a series of presentations and talks conducted by expert speakers.

Participants will also have an opportunity to network and discover new business opportunities at the event which has attracted more than 80 exhibitors.

Soccerex China begins with an opening ceremony followed by discussions where a panel of speakers will talk on a wide range of topics including investing in China’s Football Future, the importance of commercial rights to China’s sports economy and the future of football media.

The rapid rise of the digital landscape in Asia and how the trend has made a huge impact in the sport will also be discussed by a panel of speakers.

The event will conclude on Friday after offering 18 hours of insightful discussions and a total of 21 hours of networking.

AFC General Secretary Dato’ Windsor John, in his opening address, said: “I am pleased to note the five AFC Regional Associations have been working closely with FIFA and the AFC to provide more Member Associations with opportunities to compete in top-level tournaments.

“Since 2017, Asia has staged 24 youth and women competitions, benefitting 43 Members from across the five regions.

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.