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The AFC General Secretary was joined by Concacaf Secretary General Philippe Moggio and Executive Vice President of the United Soccer League (USL) Court Jeske in the panel discussion titled “The Greatest Show on Earth”.

Focused on the theme "Making Delhi a Vibrant Football City," the AFC General Secretary was joined by the Honourable Indian Minister of Sports & Youth Affairs Kiren Rijiju, All India Football Federation President and FIFA Council member Praful Patel, Indian skipper Chhetri as well as Football Delhi President Shaji Prabhakaran in the scene-setting session.

In his opening address to participants, Dato’ Windsor hailed the notable progress of Indian football under the guidance of AIFF President Praful Patel while acknowledging the role of the country’s capital Delhi in strengthening its position as a global sports city.

He was joined by Football Association of Malaysia General Secretary Stuart Ramalingam and Executive Vice President, Partnerships of Football Management Asia Ned Negus at the five-day online summit which has attracted a star-studded line-up of speakers including FIFA President Gianni Infantino.

The AFC General Secretary, who was also joined by Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) President Dato’ Hamidin Amin, congratulated YB Tuan Syed Saddiq on his appointment as the country’s youngest-ever Minister and thanked him for his office’s long-standing and continued partnership with the AFC.

The Ministry for Youth and Sports has been instrumental in assisting the AFC in all government related matters, particularly since Asian football found a permanent home in Bukit Jalil in May 2000.

Dato’ Windsor John also extended an invitation to the Minister to attend the AFC’s latest milestone - the inauguration of its new building - later this month.

The AFC General Secretary highlighted the close relationship between the FAM and the AFC and stressed on the importance of developing football at the grassroots through schools and clubs. 

YB Tuan Syed Saddiq acknowledged the undeniable passion for football that exists in the country and thanked Dato’ Windsor John for this visit, echoing his sentiment on the need to strengthen the foundations for football in Malaysia to scale even greater heights.

Sheikh Salem, joined by Oman FA Second Vice-President Dr Jasim Al Shiekaili and Office Manager Talal Al Amry, met with AFC General Secretary Dato' Windsor John and they were briefed by the AFC departments on the Confederation’s Vision and Mission.

Dato' Windsor John said: “We were delighted about the initiative by His Excellency and happy to welcome Oman FA representatives to the AFC House to brief the President and his delegation on the ways the AFC can support the Oman FA.

"The strength of the AFC only comes from the strength of its Member Associations and we are here to offer all the support and resources we can to ensure that each and every one of the 46 members and one associate member of the AFC realise their potential."

Sheikh Salem added: "It was a great honour to visit AFC House and we hope that this will be the first of many visits in the years to come. It is important, as a Member Association, that we understand how the AFC works and how it can assist our objectives.

"We have learnt so much and now we want to take that experience back to the Oman FA while at the same time strengthening the bond between ourselves and the AFC."

Photo: AFC

Several key issues were discussed during the meeting which was focused on PSSI’s recently endorsed Strategic Development Plan for the development of football in Indonesia.

Directors of various key AFC departments were led by AFC General Secretary Dato’ Windsor John who urged the Indonesian football officials to make up the lost time because of governance issues and march forward towards a new era of football development.  

“PSSI is an important AFC Member Association and Indonesia has huge football potential. The AFC wants PSSI to tap into this potential and move ahead since the internal turmoil of the PSSI is a thing of the past and Indonesian football is in the able hands of President Lt. General Edy Rahmayadi,” said Dato’ Windsor, who promised unconditional support from the AFC for the development of Indonesian football.

President Rahmayadi also vowed to leave no stone unturned for the development of Indonesian football and make Indonesia a football powerhouse in the future.

“We have been working relentlessly after I was elected back in November last year and with this team as well as help from the AFC, I am confident that we will be able to achieve our target of bringing Indonesia back on the football map,” said the PSSI President.  

The immediate priorities of the PSSI are to improve the standard and number of coaches, produce more quality referees and develop youth football nationwide.

PSSI was suspended by FIFA back in April 2015 for more than a year and was engulfed in internal turmoil before a fresh election for the office bearers were conducted in November 2016.

The association organised an Ordinary Congress in January this year with the slogan of ‘reconciliation’ which endorsed the Vision and Mission of the organisation and at the same time brought back the individuals and clubs suspended by previous officials back into the Indonesian football family.  

Photo: PSSI

Comprising a delegation from both the AFC and UEFA Executive Committees (ExCo), Members were unanimous with the significant strides undertaken through the current Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which was signed in 2015, drawing from the positive experience from a previous MoU signed by AFC and the UEFA in 2012. FIFA General Secretary, Fatma Samba Diouf Samoura was also present to lend her support to both Confederations.

AFC President, Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa underlined the importance of the joint meeting between the two Confederations, noting that it provided yet another opportunity to reinforce the excellent partnership which exists between the AFC and UEFA.

“The AFC and UEFA have enjoyed a long-standing partnership and this MoU exemplifies the spirit of solidarity and unity of world football. Together, we are committed to leverage on the excellent momentum we have built in recent years to further develop and promote the beautiful game.”

The current MOU will run through to 2019 and has paved the way for the development on matters of common interest, which include competitions, Member Associations (MA) development, technical, refereeing, futsal as well as women's football.

Looking ahead, both Confederations agreed to explore ways to deepen the relationship by expanding the scope of the MoU to cover even more areas.

The suggestion for the new regional tournaments was made to ensure that players in the Under-15 age-group are provided with the exposure to play at the international level, paving the way for a more structured and sustained approach to talent development. At present, the opportunities for players in the Under-15 age-group are limited to the qualification stages of the AFC U-16 Championship, which is held once every two years.

The new regional development tournaments, which will take place during the year of every AFC U-16 Final Championship, replaces the AFC U-14 Regional Festival of Football.

The Committee, chaired by Deputy Chairman, Mr Obaid Mubarak Obaid Al Shamsi (UAE), also approved the introduction of the Tutoring-the-Tutors programme. The new programme aims to develop and transform the continent’s most experienced coach educators into specialist tutors, who will in turn nurture Asia’s next generation of coaches.

The meeting also noted the newly formed AFC Youth Panel, which will be holding its first meeting on April 26, 2016 in Kuala Lumpur. The meeting will augment the work currently undertaken by two new technical panels formed by the AFC this year, in the areas of Grassroots and Coach Education – both of which concluded their inaugural meetings in February.

To better align with the industry’s best practices, the Committee Members also approved the removal of the award for the AFC Foreign Player of the Year, who will now be recognised by the yearly AFC Champions League technical report. In addition, while the AFC Asian International Player of the Year will continue to be awarded, it will now be presented at the appropriate time directly to the player instead of the AFC Annual Awards Night.

In his closing remarks, Mr Obaid Mubarak Obaid Al Shamsi thanked Members for the commitment and contributions, stressing further the need for the AFC to continue its efforts to prepare Asian teams for success on the world stage.

Photo: AFC

The seminar was held to further enhance futsal development in AFC Member Associations and covered both theoretical and practical sessions, the latter hosted by the Kuala Lumpur Football Association.

AFC General Secretary Dato’ Windsor John, who spoke to the participants of the three-day event, said AFC wanted to produce world-class instructors for the development of the game.

“This seminar serves to empower you to take the game to an even higher level,” he said. “This development, as well as competitions among the teams, have elevated the standard of futsal here in Asia. But we will not rest on our laurels as we strive to constantly improve ourselves.

“This seminar lets you learn from Asia’s leading futsal experts. I trust that this knowledge-transfer is of great benefit to all participants. When you return home, it will be your responsibility to transfer that knowledge to the coaches you are training.”

The seminar, delivered by FIFA instructor Victor Hermans of the Netherlands and Ali Targholizadeh, will be followed by an AFC Futsal Fitness Instructors’ Seminar (April 14-16), Futsal Goalkeeping Instructors’ Seminar (April 18-20) and the Beach Soccer Instructors’ Seminar (April 26-28), also to be held in Kuala Lumpur.

Photo: AFC