CJ ENM’s agreement includes exclusive rights to all the major AFC’s national team and club competitions, including the 2022 FIFA World Cup Asian Qualifiers Final Round, the AFC Champions League from the 2021 season, the AFC Asian Cup China 2023 and the AFC U23 Championship Finals 2022 and 2024.

Football fans will be able to see coverage of the AFC competitions across CJ ENM’s linear and digital services including tvN. National team matches will be broadcast on CJ ENM’s widest accessible and highest profile channels, while all Korean AFC Champions League matches will also be available live.

The AFC President said: “On behalf of the Asian football family, I would like to offer my heartfelt congratulations to Korea Republic for securing their maiden AFC U23 Championship title and for showcasing incredible drive, teamwork and skill throughout the competition. We must also praise Saudi Arabia for their hard work and resilience in a riveting final.

Under the agreement, Sportradar will continue to support the AFC Integrity Unit with the Intelligence and Investigation Services (I&I) which have proved vital in the fight against match-fixing in the region.

Starting in 2013, the AFC and Sportradar have created a formidable integrity partnership which has been defined by the identification of and strong action against match-fixing, which has seen the AFC Integrity Unit become one of the global leaders in sports integrity.

NSIM will now be part of seven established medical centres under the AFC Medical Centre of Excellence which was launched in 2018 to provide better healthcare for footballers in Asia while looking at ways to improve sports medicine research.

Chaired by the AFC President, Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, the Executive Committee agreed that the hosts for the future AFC Asian Cups should be given more preparation time in the future – with the 2027 hosts being appointed as soon as possible.

The AFC President said: “At the AFC 29th Congress in Paris, we chose the People’s Republic of China as the next hosts of the AFC Asian Cup in 2023. And I know that China PR will deliver a world class event – in keeping with the stature of the AFC Asian Cup.

Chaired by Mr. Ganbaatar Amgalanbaatar, the Committee recognised the importance for Member Associations to develop their digital media capabilities to better engage with Asia’s passionate fans and to grow the reach of the game, as outlined in the AFC’s Vision.

The Committee approved for the AFC to develop an over-arching strategy and embark on a digital audit process to help MAs understand their digital performance and share best practice as well as provide the appropriate digital support to accelerate the rising standards.

To help Member Associations develop in this crucial area, it was agreed that the AFC will commence a pilot programme with Member Associations from each of the five AFC regions.

AFC President Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, who opened the meeting chaired by Dasho Ugen Tsechup, said: “The AFC is extremely proud of our new commercial partnership with DDMC Fortis, which was conducted with utmost professionalism.

"Our ambition is to ensure our Member Associations take full advantage of the commercial opportunities in the coming years to bring about positive change.

“We have seen many Member Associations make remarkable strides, but we want to do more, we want to be a leading Confederation and I am confident that this Committee will play a crucial role in carrying out our ambitions.”