Lahore, 17 March: Pakistan Football Federation (PFF)’s President Makhdoom Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat earned yet another honor when he became the Chairman of AFC Legal Committee during the AFC Executive Committee (EXCO) Meet today at Kuala Lumpur. The meeting of the AFC Executive Committee held with members putting on a strong show of unity for the benefit of Asian football.
The new AFC Executive Committee (term 2011-2015) met at AFC House for the first time under the chairmanship of Asian Football Confederation (AFC) President Mohamed Bin Hammam. The AFC Executive Committee was elected at the 24th AFC Congress held in Qatarian capital of Doha on 6 January 2011. Ten new faces made it to the continent’s governing body while Hammam was given a third four-year term at the helm.
Hammam has also extended his condolences to the people of Japan and the Japan Football Association following massive earthquake and tsunami. “On behalf of AFC and member of House, I convey my deepest condolences to the families and friends of the victims of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan,” he said.
The House also approved two proposals for of Faisal Saleh Hayat besides approving him the new Chairman of AFC Legal Committee. Firstly, the developed countries like Australia, Bahrain, China PR, Iran, Iraq, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Thailand, Uzbekistan will help emerging nations like Pakistan and
Afghanistan, Bangladesh. Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, Chinese Taipei, Guam, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Macau, Mongolia, Nepal, Palestine, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Timor-Leste in all aspects viz administration, coaching, refereeing, women soccer and visits of the teams of different levels. Secondly, the amount of AFC AID-27 Financial Assistance Scheme had been raised through which Youth Coaches are showing their progress throughout Pakistan and the increment will allow PFF to engage more youth Coaches for imparting training to the young footballers of different age groups under Grass Root and Youth Development Program.
Hammed added : “My strong belief in the passion for football in Asia and the potential of Asian football made me announce my desire to lead this Confederation nineyears ago. In August 2002, Congress gave me the wonderful opportunity to be in the driving seat, to work on these beliefs and to start my wonderful journey of bringing our dreams to reality. I would like to take this opportunity to thank for your trust in me then and now again, as I move into the another term of this presidency.
Asia with its huge population has the most talents, and I believed that the world has yet to feel the vibration of Asian football. I dreamed, like most of you in the House, that Asia would one day stand tall in the world of international football; and that Asian teams, with their Asian players, coaches and administrators would hold their own and challenge for dominance in world football.
Earlier, he congratulated Faisal Saleh Hayat and other new members of AFC ExCo and said 2010 was a successful year for Asian football. “The start of 2011 also saw AFC managing high-profile arrangements in 15th Asian Cup which I am personally very proud,” Bin Hammam told members. “And I hope you are also very proud of the many activities of your confederation – from competitions to education and all its activities. “I have no doubt that this confederation is moving forward from one level to another because of your dedication and input to football in Asia.”
Bin Hammam, who was unopposed for his third term as AFC President, hailed the last AFC Congress as an example of a thriving democracy and urged new ExCo members to cast aside their own interests and strive hard for the game.“Just like in football, there will be winners and losers and our game teaches us how to live with both,” he said.“Congratulations to those who were elected. You were elected because the Member Associations put their trust in you, so you have to work for them and not for yourselves.”
While sharing his words with colleagues, Faisal Saleh Hayat, also FIFA/ World Cup Disciplinary Committee member and Chairman AFC Disciplinary Committee, believes that the launch of the Vision Asia project will infuse new energy and power into football development efforts. “Vision Asia is an efficient way of sustainable football development.”
“Vision Asia will provide more opportunities to develop youth football and help us embrace the modern aspects of the game,” added by Faisal realising the demanding requirements of joining Vision Asia and need to gear up for the challenges ahead. “There are shortcomings in a lot of areas we were not aware of earlier. We meet the infrastructural needs of the programme but still need to identify more training sites.We want the involvement of professionals in this plan,” said Faisal who represented South Central Zone, alongwith Ali Azim (Maldives) and Praful Patel (India) . The three garnered enough votes to take the three places to the AFC’s highest decision-making committee, AFC Executive Committee elections last January.
“Asia has not yet taken over the world, the rumblings of Asia can now be felt. We strongly believe that the Future is Asia and we are working very hard towards the future.. We must push our limits.” concluded Hammam.