Shaikh Salman re-elected AFC President by acclamation

The 26th Ordinary Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Congress held yesterday at the Gulf Hotel’s Gulf Convention Centre in Manama has re-elected Bahrain’s Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa by acclamation as its President for a four-year term until 2019, as he was the only candidate.
Shaikh Salman said: “I am humbled and honoured to stand unopposed for the position of AFC President and FIFA Vice-President. I take this as a sign of your satisfaction with the work that I have done so far and your trust in me to lead this unique Confederation.”
Kuwait’s Shaikh Ahmad Fahad Al Ahmad Al Sabah was also re-elected by acclamation to the FIFA Executive Committee until 2017.
This was one of three seats up for election for that committee, while elections for the 21 remaining places on the AFC Executive Committee also took place.
The congress began with Shaikh Salman welcoming the delegations of all 47 AFC members, officials from other regional confederations and the media and expressing his condolences to the people of Nepal which was followed by the observance of a minute’s silence.
The King’s Representative for Charity and Youth Affairs, Chairman of the Supreme Council for Youth and Sports and President of the Bahrain Olympic Committee President Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa was next to address the congress.
He gave an insight into Bahrain’s proud history, along with its achievements particularly in sports such as hosting the Formula One Grand Prix, football and missing out narrowly twice in play-offs to competing in the World Cup, winning its first ever medal in athletics at the 2012 London Olympics and traditional sports such as falconry.
Shaikh Salman then took the stage and talked about Unity and Solidarity in his two years in office, both in his opening and closing speeches, as well as reviewing the main achievements as president and laying out the challenges of the next four years.
He paid homage to the AFC Asian Cup Australia 2015 which was recognised as a great success in all respects.  The decision was taken in 2014 to expand the tournament from 16 to 24 teams for the next edition in the United Arab Emirates in 2019, whilst the qualifying format for Russia 2018 and UAE 2019 was made more inclusive.  In club competitions, the AFC Champions League has been opened up to clubs from 24 associations, compared to 11 in the past, and the AFC Club Licensing system has been revamped.
Shaikh Salman said “Our competitions are now better, more inclusive, and more attractive. Intensive study and discussion led to these improvements to our flagship national team and club competitions.”
“In 2014 we also launched three new Initiatives for Asian Football – mini-pitches, funding for national youth teams and the AFC Expert Pool of specialists. These were all created to complement the AFC Kick Off programme for clubs and leagues and to provide tailor-made development solutions for the AFC Member Associations.”
Shaikh Salman described how the confederation had been stabilised over the previous two years and how the associations had come closer together through regular meetings and dialogue.  Various good governance measures had been taken, including creating a new Central Zone, the launch of a Governance Reform Task Force and the creation of a new AFC Code of Ethics and Code of Conduct.  Furthermore, the AFC has in the past two years launched extensive integrity measures to counter match corruption.
He also outlined some of the priorities for his forthcoming mandate. He said: “In Asia we all recognise that we need to close the gap on the rest of the world. The next four years, and beyond, will be about improving all our levels of competition, whilst simultaneously targeting all aspects of football development, for example in the area of coach education.”
The AFC’s new Technical Director Andy Roxburgh was also presented to the Congress.
FIFA president Joseph ‘Sepp’ Blatter also spoke of unity and solidarity and said that this had been his message for years and into the future.
“Football is a powerhouse with around 300 million people playing the game along with 1.6 billion followers worldwide. It won’t change the world, but it brings people together and helps to promote peace and understanding.”
Blatter also touch on health programmes which have been established through football, and also the achievements in Asia of women’s football with such powerhouses such as Japan, Australia, China, North and South Korea and Thailand.
He also cited despite the problems of civil strife in countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria that football is still a unifying factor and complimented their associations and praising the leadership of Shaikh Salman since he became AFC president two years ago.
Other decisions made during the AFC Congress included the approval of the 2013 and 2014 activity report, statement of accounts and auditor’s reports.