Tue, 30 Nov, -0001
Sao Paulo: Uzbekistan Football Federation (UFF) President Mirabror Usmanov was presented with the prestigious FIFA Order of Merit award at the opening ceremony of the 64th FIFA Congress on Monday.
Usmanov, who last year was also appointed the President of the Uzbekistan National Olympic Committee, received the coveted accolade from FIFA President Sepp Blatter during the event at the Transamerica Expo Centre in Sao Paulo.
Usmanov has been re-elected President of the UFF on two occasions since first taking office in 2006 and the Central Asian nation has produced a number of notable achievements on and off the pitch during his three spells in Uzbekistan football's highest position.
Uzbekistan has emerged as a powerful force in youth football, winning the 2012 AFC U-16 Championship having finished runners-up in the same tournament two years earlier. The young Uzbeks acquitted themselves admirably at the subsequent FIFA U-17 World Cups and reached the quarter-finals in Mexico 2011 and the Round of 16 two years later when the competition was held in the UAE.
The Uzbek U-20s have also impressed in the global arena, reaching the quarter-finals of the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Turkey last year, while the semi-final finish at the 2011 AFC Asian Cup represents the best performance of the senior national team since independent Uzbekistan became a member of the AFC in the early 1990s.
Usmanov, a former Minister of Trade, has also been ensuring the advancement of Uzbek football with numerous grassroots projects and developmental initiatives and has been influential in seeing the construction of ten new stadiums in the country as the ambitious Uzbeks set their sights on hosting top-level regional, continental and international sporting events.
Photo: FIFA/Getty Images