With the assistance of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) through the AFC President’s Development Initiative, TFF has employed a full-time digital staff member to generate interesting and creative content to promote the league and its players.

The two-day conference, which also benefited general secretaries from the South and Central Zones after its successful kick-off edition last week, has played a pivotal role in enhancing the capabilities of the AFC Member Associations and continues to pave the way for greater partnerships across the Continent.

AFC General Secretary Dato’ Windsor John opened the Conference with an overview of the AFC’s Vision and Mission before participants were given an in-depth presentation on the latest developments of the AFC’s ever-improving top class competitions.

Having not played a competitive international game in the country for nearly a decade, the Football Federation of Sri Lanka (FFSL), with the assistance of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), has been busy making up for lost time through the AFC President’s Development Initiative.

The five scholarship recipients – Tyson Scott (Australia), Rishab Kapur (India), Han Bits-yi (Korea Republic), Mahmoud Qaraqra (Palestine) and Michael Kevin Goco (Philippines) – completed their first semester at the De Montfort University in Leicester, England, on Humanities of Sport in December 2019 and are now relishing the experience in the next leg of the global and dynamic programme at Milan’s SDA Bocconi School of Management.

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.

As beneficiaries of the AFC Solidarity Fund, Tyson Scott (AUS), Rishab Kapur (IND), Han Bits-yi (KOR), Mahmoud Qaraqra (PLE) and Michael Kevin Goco (PHI), who were all endorsed by their respective Member Associations, will spend the next three months at De Montfort University in Leicester, England, for the Humanities of Sport module at the university’s renowned International Centre for Sports History and Culture.

In January, the class will then move to Italy to study Sports Management at Milan’s SDA Bocconi School of Management. Following the completion of this module, the class will finally transfer to Switzerland where they will be taught Sports Law at the University of Neuchâtel for the final module of the year.

The scholarships are part of the AFC’s commitment to enhance the capability of staff from the AFC’s Member Associations and were announced by the AFC President Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa at the 28th AFC Congress in Kuala Lumpur last October.

The White Falcons’ transformation was one of the most compelling fairy tales at the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 as the debutants became the first side to progress into the knockout stage of the Continental showpiece since Australia in 2007.

And behind the scenes reveal a carefully and meticulously constructed blueprint spearheaded by the Football Federation of Kyrgyz Republic (FFKR) and the Football League of Kyrgyz Republic (FLK) – who have been relentless in their pursuit to professionalise the game at all levels.

Capitalising on the nascent roots for the sport, the FFKR and FLK have been working with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) to establish a dedicated football broadcast channel to grow the passion for the game in the country.