Datuk Seri Windsor John: AFC General Secretary

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Focused on the theme "Making Delhi a Vibrant Football City," the AFC General Secretary was joined by the Honourable Indian Minister of Sports & Youth Affairs Kiren Rijiju, All India Football Federation President and FIFA Council member Praful Patel, Indian skipper Chhetri as well as Football Delhi President Shaji Prabhakaran in the scene-setting session.

In his opening address to participants, Dato’ Windsor hailed the notable progress of Indian football under the guidance of AIFF President Praful Patel while acknowledging the role of the country’s capital Delhi in strengthening its position as a global sports city.

The AFC General Secretary, who was also joined by Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) President Dato’ Hamidin Amin, congratulated YB Tuan Syed Saddiq on his appointment as the country’s youngest-ever Minister and thanked him for his office’s long-standing and continued partnership with the AFC.

The Ministry for Youth and Sports has been instrumental in assisting the AFC in all government related matters, particularly since Asian football found a permanent home in Bukit Jalil in May 2000.

Dato’ Windsor John also extended an invitation to the Minister to attend the AFC’s latest milestone - the inauguration of its new building - later this month.

The AFC General Secretary highlighted the close relationship between the FAM and the AFC and stressed on the importance of developing football at the grassroots through schools and clubs.

YB Tuan Syed Saddiq acknowledged the undeniable passion for football that exists in the country and thanked Dato’ Windsor John for this visit, echoing his sentiment on the need to strengthen the foundations for football in Malaysia to scale even greater heights.

Datuk Seri Windsor John was appointed as the General Secretary of the AFC in 2015 after purposeful stints as the Deputy General Secretary and Executive Director of Competitions.

Born in 1961, Datuk Seri Windsor has been a loyal servant of the beautiful game, having witnessed the entire spectrum as a player, coach and administrator.

The Malaysian’s passion for football was ignited early on in his life when he was selected to represent the northern Malaysian state Kedah’s youth team in 1973 before pulling on the Petronas team jersey.

Ever eager to test his boundaries, Datuk Seri Windsor, who was then in the teaching profession, enrolled for the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM)’s coaching courses and excelled, winning the highest coaching qualification – FAM Advance Coaching Award. It was not long before Selangor – a Malaysian state well known for its successes on the pitch – snapped him up as their assistant coach before fully handing over the reins of their President’s Cup team.

Datuk Seri Windsor turned his hand to full-time administration by joining the FAM in 1999 before taking over as the Director of Technical and Competitions of the ASEAN Football Federation a year later. It was not long before FIFA came calling and he joined the FIFA Development Office (ASEAN and East Asia) in 2001 as a Technical Assistant before being elevated as the FIFA Development Officer (2005-2009), a role in which he carved out a niche for himself with his values, work ethics and integrity.

During his time with FIFA, Datuk Seri Windsor played a leadership role in the pivotal position of General Coordinator in several FIFA World Cups besides a host of other international and high-profile tournaments.

As the AFC General Secretary, Datuk Seri Windsor has been energetically implementing the AFC President H.E. Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa’s all-encompassing vision of taking Asian football in new directions and to greater heights.

Under the AFC Executive Committee’s guidance, Datuk Seri Windsor has been instrumental in implementing a major transformation programme that has seen AFC’s flagship competitions being rebranded and expanded while increasing development funding to the Member Associations, all with the aim of making football the dominant sport in the continent.

An area of special focus for the AFC General Secretary has been the fight against match-fixing, establishing the AFC as one of the most committed sports bodies in the world on this issue.

A football man in every sense of the word, Datuk Seri Windsor’s avowed mission is to make a difference and help unlock the immense potential of Asian football.

Datuk Seri Windsor has won several awards and accolades in his long career, including being conferred with the honorary title of 'Datuk Seri' in 2022 by His Majesty The King of Malaysia, and the title of 'Dato' that was awarded by the Malaysian state of Pahang in 2014. In 2007, Datuk Seri Windsor also received the Medal of Labour by the Lao People’s Democratic Republic government.

Datuk Seri Windsor is married to Jane and they have three children.

Sheikh Salem, joined by Oman FA Second Vice-President Dr Jasim Al Shiekaili and Office Manager Talal Al Amry, met with AFC General Secretary Dato' Windsor John and they were briefed by the AFC departments on the Confederation’s Vision and Mission.

Dato' Windsor John said: “We were delighted about the initiative by His Excellency and happy to welcome Oman FA representatives to the AFC House to brief the President and his delegation on the ways the AFC can support the Oman FA.

"The strength of the AFC only comes from the strength of its Member Associations and we are here to offer all the support and resources we can to ensure that each and every one of the 46 members and one associate member of the AFC realise their potential."

Sheikh Salem added: "It was a great honour to visit AFC House and we hope that this will be the first of many visits in the years to come. It is important, as a Member Association, that we understand how the AFC works and how it can assist our objectives.

"We have learnt so much and now we want to take that experience back to the Oman FA while at the same time strengthening the bond between ourselves and the AFC."

Photo: AFC

Several key issues were discussed during the meeting which was focused on PSSI’s recently endorsed Strategic Development Plan for the development of football in Indonesia.

Directors of various key AFC departments were led by AFC General Secretary Dato’ Windsor John who urged the Indonesian football officials to make up the lost time because of governance issues and march forward towards a new era of football development.

“PSSI is an important AFC Member Association and Indonesia has huge football potential. The AFC wants PSSI to tap into this potential and move ahead since the internal turmoil of the PSSI is a thing of the past and Indonesian football is in the able hands of President Lt. General Edy Rahmayadi,” said Dato’ Windsor, who promised unconditional support from the AFC for the development of Indonesian football.

President Rahmayadi also vowed to leave no stone unturned for the development of Indonesian football and make Indonesia a football powerhouse in the future.

“We have been working relentlessly after I was elected back in November last year and with this team as well as help from the AFC, I am confident that we will be able to achieve our target of bringing Indonesia back on the football map,” said the PSSI President.

The immediate priorities of the PSSI are to improve the standard and number of coaches, produce more quality referees and develop youth football nationwide.

PSSI was suspended by FIFA back in April 2015 for more than a year and was engulfed in internal turmoil before a fresh election for the office bearers were conducted in November 2016.

The association organised an Ordinary Congress in January this year with the slogan of ‘reconciliation’ which endorsed the Vision and Mission of the organisation and at the same time brought back the individuals and clubs suspended by previous officials back into the Indonesian football family.

Photo: PSSI

AFC General Secretary Dato’ Windsor John and UAEFA General Secretary Mohammed Hazzam Al Dhaheri put pen to paper on behalf of the respective organisations.

It was decided in March at the AFC’s Executive Committee (ExCo) meeting in Kuala Lumpur to name the UAE capital as host city for the 2016 AFC Annual Awards ceremony.

Expressing his delight at Abu Dhabi being chosen as the venue for the Annual Awards, AFC President Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa said: “The AFC Annual Awards Night is the most prestigious celebration in our yearly calendar and represents the pinnacle of our continent’s achievements.

“Football has grown enormously to command a dominant place in UAE and we are extremely pleased to hold this year’s Annual Awards in the wonderful city of Abu Dhabi.

“On behalf of the AFC and the Asian football family, I would like to thank the Abu Dhabi Sports Council and the UAE FA for their exceptional support and I am confident we will witness a glorious night as we celebrate the continent’s best talent.”

His Excellency Aref Hamad Al Awani, ADSC General Secretary conveyed his appreciation to the AFC President and ExCo for their trust in Abu Dhabi: “It is really great for us to sign this agreement with the AFC to host the 2016 Awards Night.

“Hosting the 2016 Awards Night will have positive effects on UAE football and is another addition to UAE sports which will further enhance Abu Dhabi’s position as a capital for international sport events."

UAEFA President His Excellency Marwan Ahmad Bin Ghalita said the UAE has always been at the forefront of hosting high-profile international events.

“I would like to thank the AFC President for showing the confederation’s trust in the UAE’s abilities to host this big event in the Asian football calendar. I am confident that the stakeholders will witness a world-class show on December 1 in Abu Dhabi.”

This is the second time that the AFC Annual Awards ceremony will be hosted in Abu Dhabi. The first time was in 2006 and it was the first time the event had been held outside Kuala Lumpur, which is home to the AFC Headquarters. The AFC’s 2015 Annual Awards were held in India’s capital, New Delhi to wide critical acclaim.

Comprising a delegation from both the AFC and UEFA Executive Committees (ExCo), Members were unanimous with the significant strides undertaken through the current Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which was signed in 2015, drawing from the positive experience from a previous MoU signed by AFC and the UEFA in 2012. FIFA General Secretary, Fatma Samba Diouf Samoura was also present to lend her support to both Confederations.

AFC President, Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa underlined the importance of the joint meeting between the two Confederations, noting that it provided yet another opportunity to reinforce the excellent partnership which exists between the AFC and UEFA.

“The AFC and UEFA have enjoyed a long-standing partnership and this MoU exemplifies the spirit of solidarity and unity of world football. Together, we are committed to leverage on the excellent momentum we have built in recent years to further develop and promote the beautiful game.”

The current MOU will run through to 2019 and has paved the way for the development on matters of common interest, which include competitions, Member Associations (MA) development, technical, refereeing, futsal as well as women's football.

Looking ahead, both Confederations agreed to explore ways to deepen the relationship by expanding the scope of the MoU to cover even more areas.

The suggestion for the new regional tournaments was made to ensure that players in the Under-15 age-group are provided with the exposure to play at the international level, paving the way for a more structured and sustained approach to talent development. At present, the opportunities for players in the Under-15 age-group are limited to the qualification stages of the AFC U-16 Championship, which is held once every two years.

The new regional development tournaments, which will take place during the year of every AFC U-16 Final Championship, replaces the AFC U-14 Regional Festival of Football.

The Committee, chaired by Deputy Chairman, Mr Obaid Mubarak Obaid Al Shamsi (UAE), also approved the introduction of the Tutoring-the-Tutors programme. The new programme aims to develop and transform the continent’s most experienced coach educators into specialist tutors, who will in turn nurture Asia’s next generation of coaches.

The meeting also noted the newly formed AFC Youth Panel, which will be holding its first meeting on April 26, 2016 in Kuala Lumpur. The meeting will augment the work currently undertaken by two new technical panels formed by the AFC this year, in the areas of Grassroots and Coach Education – both of which concluded their inaugural meetings in February.

To better align with the industry’s best practices, the Committee Members also approved the removal of the award for the AFC Foreign Player of the Year, who will now be recognised by the yearly AFC Champions League technical report. In addition, while the AFC Asian International Player of the Year will continue to be awarded, it will now be presented at the appropriate time directly to the player instead of the AFC Annual Awards Night.

In his closing remarks, Mr Obaid Mubarak Obaid Al Shamsi thanked Members for the commitment and contributions, stressing further the need for the AFC to continue its efforts to prepare Asian teams for success on the world stage.

Photo: AFC

Datuk Seri Windsor John: AFC General Secretary