Making history as the first Youth Coach of the Year (Male) was Abdulwahab Alharbi from Saudi Arabia, with the Youth Football League of Tajikistan winning the Youth League of the Year award and Chinese side, Shandong Luneng Taishan claiming the Youth Academy of the Year Award.

The Youth Coach of the Year (Female) will be announced during the AFC Women’s Conference in Kuala Lumpur on November 19, 2019.

The programme, led by FIFA, UEFA & AFC Fitness Instructor Magni Mohr, saw participants from 32 Member Associations attending the course which focused on topics on how to improve the fitness of footballers through training and nutrition.

With the ever-evolving fitness trend in football, the AFC Fitness Coaching Tutors Course was an opportunity for fitness coaching tutors and fitness coaches to listen from experts and learn from the latest research on football fitness while also exchanging ideas with peers.

12 Member Association representatives who were in attendance, deliberated on key issues of the AFC Coaching Convention and its implementation with the aim of increasing Member Associations (MAs) endorsements.

Coach Education influences all aspects of development and it impacts on the quality of the game. MA programmes provide an opportunity for tomorrow’s coaches to learn and to develop.

At the meeting, 23 new applications for the Convention were acknowledged, and the panel members were appointed to begin the evaluation process.

Gerard Houllier, the former France and Liverpool coach, joined the coaching talent which included former AFC Asian Cup winning coach Ange Postecoglou, who won the 2015 AFC Asian Cup with Australia and now coaches Yokohama F Marinos in Japan.

Last year’s beaten finalist AFC Champions League with Persepolis, Branko Ivankovic, (now with Saudi Arabia’s Al Ahli), Iceland’s Heimir Hallgrimsson who coaches Al-Arabi in Qatar and Gabriel Calderon, now Persepolis in the Islamic Republic of Iran, represented the West.

Through the introduction of various initiatives for its 47 Member Associations, the growth of women’s football has witnessed impressive results. Since 2007, the participation of Member Associations in the qualifiers of the AFC U-16 and AFC U-19 Women’s Championships have increased by 70 per cent and 63 per cent respectively.

Chinese Taipei Football Association

CTFA’s grassroots efforts are carried out based on their CTFA Grassroots Plan, which includes a wide range of programmes and activities that focus on professional football, international activities, domestic contests, talent cultivation, promotion of local football and the building of football fields.