Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Manama: The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Member Associations have on Monday elected Mahfuza Kiron (Bangladesh), Zhang Jian (China PR), Chung Mong Gyu (Korea Republic) and Mariano V. Araneta Jr. (Philippines) for the four places allocated to Asia on the FIFA Council at the AFC Congress 2017 in Manama, Bahrain.
With three male positions available, Zhang Jian, Chung Mong Gyu and Mariano V. Araneta Jr. secured their positions by acclamation. For the single female seat, Mahfuza Kiron secured the simple majority required, obtaining 27 votes over Australia’s Moya Dodd who received 17 votes in the first round after Han Un Gyong (DPR Korea) and Susan Shalabi Molano (Palestine) withdrew from the contest before the election.
As part of the FIFA Reforms, the AFC will now have seven members on the FIFA Council – an increase of three from before. The reforms also aim to increase the role of women in football governance and each Confederation will have one female representative on the new body. The term of office for all the FIFA Council Members is from 2017 until 2019.
AFC President Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa congratulated the four elected members for their win and commended all candidates for their hard work and commitment. Shaikh Salman said: “Let me be the first to congratulate the four successful candidates - Zhang, Chung, Mariano and Mahfuza - who will join us on the FIFA Council. I look forward to working with you to elevate Asian football on the world stage.
“This result is a testament to their dedication and passion towards the development of football in Asia. I am confident that Asia will provide four extremely capable and trustworthy members to represent the interests of our great game in the years to come.
“I must also thank the other candidates who came forward for the spirit of their campaigns as well as the Electoral Committee for organising a successful election.
“Today represents yet another step in the reform process – one that reinforces the unity, solidarity and commitment of Asian football.”
In addition to the places on the FIFA Council, four other elections were carried out. The members listed below were elected by acclamation after the number of vacancies were matched by the number of candidates, in accordance with Article 24.2 of the AFC Statutes.
AFC Vice President (East)
Chung Mong Gyu (Korea Republic)
Independent Head of Integrity:
Mr Mohammad Ali Al Kamali (UAE)
AFC Disciplinary and Ethics Committee:
Mr Yousif Mohd Yaqoobi, Member (Bahrain)
Entry Control Body:
Mr Liu Chi, Chairman (China PR)
Judge Rauf Soulio, Deputy Chairman (Australia)
Mr Nandan Kamath, Deputy Chairman (India)
Mr Ahmadreza Barati, Deputy Chairman (Islamic Republic of Iran)
Mr Bandar Al Hamidani, Deputy Chairman (Saudi Arabia)
For full details of the AFC President’s speech, please click here.
Mariano V. Araneta Jr.
“I’d like to thank everyone for having supported us and we promise not to let them down. We will do our best when representing Asia at the FIFA Council.”
*Zhang Jian
“***Thank you so much and thanks for your support. I will be the voice of the AFC whilst at FIFA. We have our Vision and Mission, so I will try my best to work with the AFC Member Associations and raise the level of football throughout Asia.”
*Chung Mong Gyu
“***I feel very privileged and humbled to be elected to the FIFA Council. I think I’ve been working to be elected throughout the last two years and now that I have been elected, I feel a lot of responsibilities to represent Asia and FIFA well, so I will do my best.”
*Mahfuza Khiron
“***I’m able grateful to have been elected. It is an honour. I will always look to further develop women’s football in Asia and I am fully committed to that.”
Photos: AFC
Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Kuala Lumpur: Monday, May 8 marks 63 years since the founding of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in Manila. With more than six decades having passed since that momentous occasion, the-AFC.com journeys back in time to highlight some of the key moments in an illustrious history that has seen it expand from 13 founding members to today’s figure of 47.
And so it began
Formed on May 8, 1954, the Asian Football Confederation’s 13 founding members included Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Indonesia, Japan, Korea Republic, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore and South Vietnam.
Two years later the maiden edition of the AFC Asian Cup was held in Hong Kong with four of the founding members qualifying for the finals. And it was to be the Koreans – after following up an opening-day draw with the hosts by claiming back-to-back wins over Israel and South Vietnam – who were crowned inaugural Asian champions.
Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Manama: The four seats available to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) on the FIFA Council will be decided on Monday at the 27th AFC Congress 2017 in Manama, Bahrain. Three male candidates will stand for the three available places while four candidates will stand for the one female member seat.
The candidates for the three FIFA Council seats are:
The candidates who will contest the one female seat are:
In accordance with the FIFA Governance Regulations, the elections will be monitored by members appointed by the FIFA Governance Committee. Mr Mukul Mudgal, Deputy Chairman of the Governance Committee, and fellow member Mr Ron Popper, have been appointed to ensure transparency and fairness.
The number of AFC Member Associations entitled to vote in both elections is 44. Kuwait Football Association is currently suspended, Northern Mariana Islands Football Association is an associate member association without the right to vote and the Football Association of Indonesia has not participated in the required number of two AFC’s competitions over a period of two consecutive years immediately prior to this Congress due to its earlier FIFA suspension.
As there are three male candidates for the three available positions, they will be elected by acclamation. For the female election, the number of votes needed in order to reach a simple majority is 23. The term of office for all the FIFA Council Members is from 2017 until 2019.
Four other elections will also be carried out. The Congress shall elect:
If the number of candidates does not exceed the number of vacancies, all elections, in accordance with Article 24.2 of the AFC Statutes, may be by acclamation.
The candidate for the AFC Vice President (East) is:
Mr Chung Mong Gyu (Korea Republic)
For live streaming of the AFC Congress 2017, please click here.
Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Manama: Three male candidates will stand for the three available places while four candidates will stand for the one female member seat on the FIFA Council.
The candidates for the three FIFA Council seats are:
