The first series of the two-day conference, which will see the AFC engage General Secretaries from all five zones by the end of this month, successfully covered the latest developments of the AFC’s competitions and also provided greater insights into the two recently formed functions within the Confederation’s structure – Commercial and Safeguarding.

The purpose of the two-day conference is to ensure that all Member and Regional Associations are given the opportunity to benefit from the resources, expertise and programmes established by the AFC and to further strengthen engagement.

The conference is an extension of the yearly programme specifically designed for General Secretaries, and for the first time this year will include the senior leadership from the AFC’s Regional Associations as part of efforts to further enhance the spirit of partnership within the Asian football family.

The Tajikistan Football Federation (TFF) President replaces Uzbekistan representative Umed Ahmadjonov at the helm of the CAFA Executive Committee as the CAFA Headquarters moves from Tashkent to Dushanbe.

Football Federation of the Kyrgyz Republic Vice President Dastanbek Konokbayev was elected First Vice President of the Central Asian Football Association while Turkmenistan Football Federation Secretary General Arslan Ainazarov was elected as the Second Vice President.

Shahab Fazil Mohammad of Afghanistan and representatives from Islamic Republic of Iran and Uzbekistan - who will be announced in course - were elected to make up the CAFA Executive members.

The yearly programme was specifically designed for General Secretaries who were appointed after the last Induction Programme that was held in Kuala Lumpur in April 2017.

The purpose of the two-day induction was to ensure that all Member Associations are given the opportunity to benefit from the resources, expertise and development programmes established by AFC and FIFA, and further strengthen engagement.

The workshop held at the AFC House was similar to the one in Manama, Bahrain just two weeks prior.

The officers from various MAs, whose main duties are to deal with the AFC and other international organisations, were brought together at this forum so that they could interact with the different AFC departments and its services to further strengthen engagement.

By the end of the workshop, the 26 participants had developed contacts and synergy amongst one another, and had full understanding of the AFC’s structure after sitting through presentations from the AFC MA & International Relations, Legal, Competitions, Technical, Referees and MA Development departments.

The two-day workshop will be replicated for ASEAN and East Zones’ officers, which will be held at the AFC House in Malaysia on August 2-3.

The President of the Bahrain Football Association (BFA) HE Shaikh Ali bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, General Secretary Ebrahim Saad Al Buainain and head of the technical affairs, Aabed Al Ansari attended the opening ceremony.

The BFA President stressed that international relations has become an important focus, pointing out that the participants will benefit greatly through the exchange and acquisition of experience. He also lauded the efforts of the AFC President Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, praising the efforts of all officials and staff of the AFC.

General Secretary of the host Member Association, Football Federation of the Kyrgyz Republic (FFKR), Mederbek Sydykov opened the workshop by welcoming the 17 participants, media and communication officials, to the two-day event. Most of the programme of the first such workshop organised for all the four Central Zone’s Russian speaking Member Associations was conducted in Russian. 

The first day’s programme focused on different aspects of marketing and was conducted by AFC consultant Elnur Mammadov. He took the participants through topics such as increasing the fan base, reaching your audience, match-day revenue, hospitality packages, stadium naming rights and the ticketing system. The Member Associations were encouraged to draft a specific marketing plan for their federation.

Mammadov said: “The Central Zone Member Associations have many similarities and this sort of events where you can share experiences and expertise are very useful. There have been many positive developments in terms of commercialisation in these Member Associations and by learning from each other you can speed up the development even further.

“The AFC has helped us a lot as we have recently introduced a totally new approach to marketing in the Uzbekistan Football Federation," commented head of the federation’s Marketing Department Bakhtiyor Mametov: “We have changed the format of the league to make it more attractive to sponsors, we have created different sponsorship packages and are now introducing online ticketing.”