By Paul Nicholson
October 31 – Asian Football Confederation (AFC) president Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa today gave a resounding message of support to FIFA president Gianni Infantino for his re-election next year, while at the same time calling on Infantino to help the AFC “protect itself from unwanted third party influences”.
Speaking at the AFC’s 28th Annual Congress in Kuala Lumpur, Salman was quick to reply to Infantino who addressed the conference saying: “Asia is fully supporting you to continue your work in FIFA. We believe there is still a lot of work to do and you are the man to complete that task.”
Salman also indicated that he was supportive of a revamped Club World Cup and a global Nations League style competition. “We will be working together hand-in-hand with FIFA and other Confederations in the coming months on new competitions. These include the revamp of the FIFA Club World Cup, the FIFA World Cup and the introduction of a nations league at the worldwide level.
“We believe these tournaments will benefit the development of football in Asia and also at the global level.”
But his strongest message was to his own federations and for the upcoming election in April 2019 where he has already said he will stand for re-election.
Citing AFC improved member association performances at Russia 2018, Japan’s U20 World Cup win, the growing strength of the AFC’s competitions, Iraq’s return to football, various AFC development and CSR programmes, the upcoming enlarged Asian Cup and the AFC’s ground-breaking new commercial rights deal with DDMC Fortis, Salman said: “The last five years have changed the perception of the AFC. We have achieved so much…We are bringing Asia together. Our governance has changed the face of the AFC and protected the great game if football.”
But Salman sounded a powerful word of warning saying: “We have an opportunity to take (the AFC) to a new level but only through unity and stability. We all remember the problems of the past. None of us want to return to those days.”
The elephant in the room when it comes to AFC presidential election talk is Saudi Arabia’s geo-political objectives, their desire to enter the corridors of world football power, and whether Saudi political pressure will be brought to bear on Salman’s ambition to continue as AFC president – Salman is a member of the Bahrain Royal family which is supporting the Saudi blockade of Qatar.
Without mentioning the Saudis by name, Salman nevertheless confronted the issue head-on, talking about the need to “protect from unwanted third party interference…We need your support (member associations) and FIFA’s support Mr President,” he said, turning towards Infantino.
It was a theme Salman returned to in his conference closing remarks. “Next time we meet it will be an election congress for the AFC president and FIFA Council. The election must be carried out in the spirit of fair play. The rules and regulations must be respected,” he said.
“We don’t need nor do we want any third party influence in our election. We need to be very strong in this matter. All member associations must be allowed to exercise their (voting) rights for the good of the game and in this we must remember that in Asia we are family and we must stick together…
“The AFC cannot allow anyone to destroy what we have put together. But it is football and there are winners and losers. It is important that everyone plays by the rules.”
Salman thanked those who had sent him letters of support (40 of them), saying that if he is elected “I won’t let you down”.
Earlier Salman had emphasised how important the next four years are for the region and the confederation. “The spotlight is on us. We have a World Cup in Qatar in 2022 and we all need to ensure this World Cup is a huge success…It is an exciting time of course. It is Asia’s time.”
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