Shaikh Salman enters 4th term as AFC president saying there is still more to achieve

By Paul Nicholson

February 1 – Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa was elected by acclamation for a fourth term as president of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) at its 33rd Congress today in Salman’s home country of Bahrain.

His first term in 2013 was filling in an unexpired term following the disgraced departure of Mohamed bin Hamman. Since then Salman has been elected unopposed in 2015, 2019 and again in 2023. This will be his last four-year period in charge.

Addressing the congress Salman thanked member associations for giving him the opportunity to lead again, while saying that Asia is “delighted” that FIFA president Gianni Infantino will be re-elected for his own four-year term next month at FIFA’s congress.

“I would like to thank all of you for putting your faith in me for another four-year term. It humbles me to have another chance to lead this confederation…I hope I can live up to your expectations,” said Salman.

Salman also praised the performance of Asian teams at the Qatar 2022 World Cup. “Asia stood tall amongst the world’s elite. Our teams delivered the best ever performance at a World Cup.”

“World attention remains in Asia for the Women’s World Cup. Asia has showed an ability to deliver and will continue to do so in the coming years,” he continued.

Praising the organisation of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, he referenced that the “stage is set for the Asian Cup 2023 (the tournament will be played in January 2024). I am certain we will witness a wonderful festival.”

Returning to the work of the AFC he referenced “ground breaking reforms” within the AFC as competitions were adjusted and multiple governance, educational and training programmes initiated.

He said that the AFC continues “to impress both on and off the field”. Ultimately it is on the field that is a key measure of the AFC’s success and Salman said they must keep working to narrow the gap between member associations and “raise the overall standard to compete more successfully on the global stage as we did at Qatar 2022.

“Our dedication to members has only grown stronger,” said Salman. “We can look forward to 2023 and beyond with greater hope.”

One of those big initiatives for the future is the new FIFA supported FIFA-AFC Stadium to be built in Putrajaya, Malaysia.

Closing the congress, Salman said the AFC has a great foundation on which to build and that he was “confident we can take Asian football to greater heights. Milestones have been achieved but there is so much more to achieve.”

Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1711694184labto1711694184ofdlr1711694184owedi1711694184sni@n1711694184osloh1711694184cin.l1711694184uap1711694184

 

 


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