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India's World Cup and AFC Cup schedule clash

India's national football team will train in Dubai for ten days before its first round qualifier match for the 2010 World Cup against Lebanon scheduled for 8 October. The Indian team's camp in Dubai will start on 25 September, a day after Mahindra United play Lebanon's Al Nejmeh in the quarterfinal of the Asian Football Confederation's AFC Cup. Six Mahindra players will join the national squad immediately after the game.

"The time gap is too small. It will hamper our preparation. What will we do if a player gets injured? There is just not enough time to prepare," India's coach, Bob Houghton told media. "If we win against Lebanon then we play Tajikistan sometime in November I think, and if Mahindra also win their first AFC Cup match, there is a possibility the dates might clash again," he warned.

Indonesian League Board welcomes AFC input

Representatives of the Indonesia League Committee (BLI) of the Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI) met Asian Football Confederation General Secretary Dato Paul Mony Samuel today at the Hilton Hotel, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia. The meeting discussed changes to the Indonesia professional league structure, particularly the new Super League that will commence in 2008. “We see that Indonesia did so many things lately and also their effort to build a professional league,” said Dato Paul, as quoted by the PSSI website. BLI Executive Director Andi Darusalam, Chairman Rugandi Soemadipraja, Competition Director Joko Driyono and Financial Director Kokoh Afiat "welcomed every input" from the AFC. “We think every suggestion from Dato is important to us – moreover BLI is trying to do lot of positive thing in holding a competition,” said Darussalam.

AFC announces Asian draw for World Cup 2010

The Asian Football Confederation has unveiled the draw for the first round of regional qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup, with Asian Cup champions Iraq along with Afghanistan and Palestine barred from playing home matches for security reasons. “We decided this after due consideration and also after discussing it with FIFA. I think the football authorities in Iraq understand why we made this decision,” AFC Tournament Director and Assistant General Secretary Carlo Nohra told reporters.

The draw created a number of intriguing match-ups, with Iraq to face Pakistan, while sixth-seeded Bahrain will take on Malaysia. The top five teams -- Australia, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Japan and Iran -- have been given a bye into the third round. Of the 19 teams that make it through the first round, the lowest eight battle in the second round for four spots in the third round, while the top 11 move directly into the third round.

The first home-and-away knockout round will take place on 8 October and 28 October while the second round is scheduled for 9 November and 18 November. The draw for the third round will take place in Durban, South Africa, on 25 November 2007. In the third round, the 20 teams are split into five groups of four, with the top two from each group advancing. The 10 remaining teams are split into two groups. The top two teams in each group qualify automatically for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Teams that finish third in each group play a home-and-away playoff and the team winning that playoff confronts the winner of the Oceania FC qualification in a home-and-away playoff to get the "jackpot" spot in the World Cup.

The seedings: 1. Australia 2. South Korea 3. Saudi Arabia 4. Japan 5. Iran 6. Bahrain 7. Uzbekistan 8. Kuwait 9. North Korea 10. China 11. Jordan 12. Iraq 13. Lebanon 14. Oman 15. UAE 16. Qatar 17. Syria 18. Palestine 19. Thailand 20. Turkmenistan 21. Tajikistan 22. Indonesia 23. Hong Kong 24. Yemen 25. Vietnam 26. Kyrgyzstan 27. Maldives 28. India 29. Singapore 30. Sri Lanka 31. Malaysia 32. Taiwan 33. Bangladesh 34. Macau 35. Pakistan 36. Afghanistan 37. Mongolia 38. Guam 39. Nepal 40. Cambodia 41. Bhutan 42. Myanmar 43. East Timor (teams ranked 1-5 receive a bye to the third round).

The pairings for Round 1
1) Pakistan v Iraq
2) Uzbekistan v Taiwan
3) Thailand v Macau
4) Sri Lanka v Qatar
5) China v Myanmar
6) Bhutan v Kuwait
7) Kyrgyzstan v Jordan
8) Vietnam v UAE
9) Bahrain v Malaysia
10) East Timor v Hong Kong
11) Syria v Afghanistan
12) Yemen v Maldives
13) Bangladesh v Tajikistan
14) Mongolia v North Korea
15) Oman v Nepal
16) Palestine v Singapore
17) Lebanon v India
18) Cambodia v Turkmenistan
19) Guam v Indonesia

Round 2:
Eight teams are paired by draw and play one home-and-away knock-out round. Four teams progress to round 3
Match Day 1: 9 Nov 2007
Match Day 2: 18 Nov 2007
or dates to be determined by teams but both matches to be completed by 18th November 2007

Round 3:
Eleven qualifiers from round 1 and four qualifiers from round 2 are joined by five highest ranked countries. These 20 teams are split into 5 groups of 4. First and second in each group qualify to next round
Match Day 1: 6 Feb 2008
Match Day 2: 26 Mar 2008
Match Day 3: 7 Jun 2008
Match Day 4: 14 Jun 2008
Match Day 5: 6 Sep 2008
Match Day 6: 10 Sep 2008

Round 4:
10 remaining teams split into two groups of 5 teams
Teams finishing first and second in each group automatically qualify
Match Day 1: 15 Oct 2008
Match Day 2: 19 Nov 2008
Match Day 3: 11 Feb 2009
Match Day 4: 28 Mar 2009
Match Day 5: 1 Apr 2009
Match Day 6: 6 Jun 2009
Match Day 7: 10 Jun 2009
Match Day 8: 17 Jun 2009
Match Day 9: 5 Sep 2009
Match Day 10: 9 Sep 2009

AFC Playoff:
Teams finishing 3rd in each group from Round 4 play home-and-away playoff
Match Day 1: 10 Oct 2009
Match Day 2: 14 Oct 2009

AFC/OFC Playoff:
Team winning AFC Playoff plays winner of OFC qualification in a home and away playoff
Match Day 1: 14 Nov 2009
Match Day 2: 21 Nov 2009

Suggestions and concerns for AFC Asian Cup 2011

Former South Korea coach Pim Verbeek has suggested to the Asian Football Confederation that it should never again run its prestigious Asian Cup in multiple countries. The 2007 event was conducted in Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia. "It's not up to me to make the final report but if I can make a small suggestion, I don't think we should do it again because of the traveling, the organisation. It's tough. It's very hard for the players. You spend 13, 14 hours on the way [to a match], I've heard Japan spent even longer. You have different climates, different circumstances, different food. It was not an easy tournament, at all, for all the teams," he said.

AFC President Mohamed Bin Hammam has already announced that the next Asian Cup's next venue in 2011 will be Qatar, one of the Arabian Gulf states. The tournament will be held in January with the only other official FIFA window available, in July, too hot in the Gulf region, meaning European-based players will be asked to leave their clubs mid-season for three weeks to take part. But Hammam doesn’t see any club versus country conflicts given January is a designated FIFA time to hold such competitions. “July is the hot season in Qatar and the organisation of the tournament cannot happen then so it will be January and we are protected by the international calendar,” he said.

Qatar, which successfully held the Asian Games in Doha last December, has played host to the Asian Cup in 1988 when it was won by Saudi Arabia. A key concern is whether the small country can drum up enough fans to fill stadia after the Asian Games experience where most grounds were empty. Hammam said it was an area that will have AFC focus. “Yes, it is a concern but Qatar, although small, is surrounded by its neighbours from the Gulf where there is a huge population,” he said. “To reach Doha is not a problem. You can reach it by road, there are hundreds of flights every day. It is a concern but we will work hard to overcome it.”

“I will promise you now that the Asian Cup in the future will be different to what you have seen in the past, in terms of organisation, popularity and standards,” he said. “This is my promise to you because this is what I am devoting my time to and what I have been elected to do. This tournament ... we have spent a lot of time and efforts on infrastructure problems in the venues. We have not given enough attention to the promotion of the competition which is very important. Qatar’s infrastructure is already excellent so I don’t think we will have any problems there. We are only going to focus on how to promote the competition and how to make the organisation more professional,” he told media.

But sports journalists Shintaro Kano of the Daily Yomiuri remains concerned that a January 2011 event "will mean the qualifiers will have to be crammed into the five months following the 2010 World Cup. Asia's best players who are based in Europe will be right in the middle of their seasons, while for the J.League, January is the precious off-season. It was struggle enough to get European clubs to release their players during the close season, so how the national associations will convince the clubs when the season is in full swing will be interesting ... Clearly, the AFC's intentions of trying to raise the Asian game are good. Its planning, however, does not seem to be so good," he commented.

Marketing increases Singapore league's viability

The Asian Football Confederation's Professional League Ad-Hoc Committee has conducted a site study of Singapore's S-League and reportedly went away highly impressed. The purpose of the visit was to assess Singapore's suitability of playing in the revamped Asian Champions League in 2009. The committee studied the stadium facilities, league and club management, media coverage and the marketing, branding and sponsorship aspects of the S-League.

At the end of the visit, AFC observers Hideki Kato and Tokuaki Suzuki gave the thumbs-up to the 12-year-old league. "I have been impressed with what I've seen so far. The S-League is very forward- looking in embracing new technology and we are also very excited by the fresh and innovative ideas that the S-League management has come up with to raise their brand profile and brand equity," Kato told the New Paper.

According to jorumnalists Lim Han Ming and Samuel Zhang, the efforts of S-League CEO Winston Lee and his marketing communications team have lifted average match attendances from 2,526 to 2,700 this year. Moving the Match of the Week to a neutral ground, such as the Jalan Besar Stadium on Friday nights has also reaped dividends. The average 'live' match attendance has shot up by two-fold from 1,500 to 3,000. Television viewership is also on the rise. An average of 80,000 fans tuned in to watch the S-League matches this year - a stark increase from 37,000 last year. The commercial viability of the S-League has translated into more sponsorship dollars. Non-sports related brands such as Levi's and Nokia have joined forces and Nike's S$1 million a year sponsorship over five years also shows its confidence in the S-League. All but one S-League club have a main sponsor.

Lee said the introduction of foreign teams had raised the level of competitiveness in the S-League. The three foreign clubs this season are Japan's Albirex Niigata and newcomers Korean Super Reds and Liaoning Guangyuan of China. "The foreign teams bring a different flavour to the S-League. The teams also raise their game when they play against the foreign teams. In a way, they feel that they are representing Singapore. Admittedly, the foreign teams did not perform to expectations at the beginning of the season. But they have settled down well and are now giving the big teams a fight," he said. In a bid to improve the quality of the squads, the salary cap of players is also raised every year. Strict fitness tests are also enforced to ensure that the standard of football is not compromised. "The message we're trying to send out is this, 'You have to be fit to play football and not play football to be fit," Lee said.

In other promotions, football fans get to watch selected matches for free and the S-League also has its Ladies' Night on Fridays. Instead of receiving free drinks, the female fans are encouraged to let their hair down and play football after the 'live' game on Friday nights. Freebies such as Andersen's ice-cream, Nestle cereals and popcorn are given out on matchdays. Fans are also entertained by innovative marketing gimmicks such as the H-TWO-O Double Your Money Dare Challenge and the Hyundai Goal-in-One Challenge during the matches. Fans also stand the chance to win attractive prizes such as a 1.4 manual Hyundai Verna car, DVD Home Theatre Systems, XBox 360s and Apple iPods in the Goal-in-One Challenge. All they have to do is to stand 15 metres away and kick the ball into any of the holes in a board bearing the names of the prizes.

AFC moots prizemoney change for Asian Cup 2011

Asian Football Confederation President Mohamed Bin Hammam has suggested that prizemoney will be offered for the first time at the AFC Asian Cup 2011 to be played in his home nation, Qatar. “We don’t compensate our football federations for playing in the Asian Cup. There is no prizemoney for this competition,” he told AFP. “But we believe that for 2011 something will be changed.”

Qatar selected as host for AFC Asian Cup 2011

The Asian Football Confederation Executive Committee, chaired by President Mohamed Bin Hammam, met in Jakarta on the sidelines of the AFC Asian Cup 2007 and took several key decisions, including approving the proposal to purchase insurance for AFC Match Officials which will include medical benefits for US$20,000, personal accident for US$50,000 and life insurance for US$50,000 and only for the period when they are officiating in AFC Competitions.

Referees

All appointment of referees will be done on a 3-month basis by the Referee Appointment Sub-Committee consisting of Yousef Al Serkal, Worawi Makudi and Ahmad Jassim. Referee Masoud Moradi and assistant referee Sokhandan Reza who officiated in the Qatar vs UAE match AFC Asian Cup match are suspended until further assessment by AFC. Assistant Referee Yew Mun Tang who officiated in the Saudi Arabia vs Uzbekistan match is suspended until further assessment by AFC Referee Najm Talaat for the Vietnam vs UAE match is suspended for one month due to poor performance.

Futsal

The AFC Futsal Committee’s proposal that the AFC Futsal Championship be held every two years starting from 2008 is approved. The Committee also agreed to organise the AFC Futsal Club Championship starting from 2009. (A new competition which adds to AFC’s rapidly rising portfolio)

Professional Leagues

The AFC Executive Committee emphasised upon a proposal from the AFC Professional League Ad-hoc Committee that criteria for participation in the AFC Champions League 2009 with regards to Organisation, Clubs, Stadia and Governance and agreed that Member Associations must meet the criteria in order to be eligible. The Committee also agreed on the method to select the participating Member Associations and the way to determine the number of clubs from each of the eligible Member Association. Further, the Committee decided on the clubs who would be eligible to represent a Member Association.

Official Charity

Reach Out to Asia will be AFC’s Official Charity in a non-exclusive manner.

Vision Asia

A Vision Asia Bureau to focus on the implementation of the projects across Asia will be established. The Bureau will be chaired by Xie Yalong, General Secretary of Chinese Football Association.

Disabled

AFC acknowledges the fact that all persons irrespective of any physical, sensory or mental impairments should be given the right to participate and play football and will be establishing a full-fledged department to take care of the football needs of disabled persons.

Women

AFC will invite three female members from the respective zones to the Executive Committee either as observers or co-opted member: Kim Sun Hui (North Korea) representing East Asia; Moya Dodd (Australia) representing ASEAN; and Ghada M. El-Farhan (Jordan) representing West Asia.

Iraq

Iraq FA’s request for an additional subsidy of US$50,000 (in addition to the US$40,000 given to all participating teams) as their team’s progress to the Final of the AFC Asian Cup 2007 has been approved. The request was to cover the additional travel involving the team on way to the Final.

AFC Asian Cup 2011

In view of the fact that India has withdrawn its bid and AFC has not received any bidding document from IR Iran FF as per the terms of bidding issued in January 2007, the AFC Competitions Committee recommended and the AFC Executive Committee accepted and confirmed Qatar FA as the host for AFC Asian Cup 2011.

Hammam declares Asian Cup 2007 a 'turning point'

Asian Football Confederation President Mohamed bin Hammam has hailed the AFC Asian Cup 2007 as ushering in a new era in regional football. He called the tournament played across four countries a turning point for South-East Asia in particular, with three of the four host country teams – Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam – exceeding expectations. “After long and hard preparation we have enjoyed three weeks of really entertaining football that has achieved the largest media platform in AFC’s history,” he told a meeting of the organisers reported by AFP. “I am impressed with how the local organising committees overcame the challenges, and I am sure that we have established a new era in terms of organising our competitions, which will impact on future Asian Cups.”

Hammam said one of the biggest plus points had been the way the host countries had coped. “This event will hopefully be a turning point for football in the four venues and South-East Asia in general in terms of performance of their national teams, organisation of football competitions, and fan support,” he said.

Iraq complains about AFC's hotel booking failure

Iraq coach Jorvan Vieira has criticised the Asian Football Confederation for leaving his travel-weary players stranded without hotel rooms. He told Nazvi Careem of Reuters his players had waited four hours at the Prince Hotel lobby in Kuala Lumpur after arriving from Bangkok on Monday before only eight rooms were made available for 31 people. Iraq plays South Korea on Wednesday in an Asian Cup semi-final and Vieira said their travelling ordeal nullified any advantage they had over the Koreans in terms of an extra day's rest.

"We left Bangkok at 7am, arrived at the hotel at 5pm and then waited four hours for only eight rooms. Then we had to pick up our luggage, we trained at 9pm and my players only had their dinner at 1.30am," Vieira said, adding that the Iraqi team had planned to leave Bangkok on Sunday but stayed an extra day on the AFC's advice. "The AFC said if we come to Malaysia on Sunday, we would have to stay in another hotel and then move to the Prince Hotel the next day. The AFC must realise that this is not a tourist group, we are an international football team. They gave us guarantees but they could not keep those guarantees."

Six automatic berths for AFC Asian Cup 2011

To enhance the value of the coming 3rd versus 4th finals play-off, three of the four AFC Asian Cup 2007 semi-finalists will be given byes to the 2011 finals, the Asian Football Confederation announced. South Korea, Japan, Iraq and Saudi Arabia now all have a chance to book their places in the 2011 competition in Wednesday's semi-finals. A fourth automatic spot will go to the host country, expected to be Qatar. The AFC also announced automatic berths in the 2011 Asian Cup for the 2008 and 2010 winners of the AFC Challenge Cup, the national teams tournament for emerging football nations.

The AFC Challenge Cup usually comprises Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Nepal, Mongolia, Taiwan, Guam, Cambodia, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Philippines, Macau, Brunei, Timor-Leste, Kyrgyzstan, Palestine, Pakistan and Northern Mariana Islands. Taiwan is hosting the 2008 edition under the name "Chinese Taipei".

Indonesia up front in objecting to MidEast referee

The Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI) reportedly lodged its first official protest to the Asian Football Confederation's appointment of a referee from the United Arab Emirates to its game against Saudi Arabia before the game started but got no reply. "We asked them not to use a Middle Eastern referee,'' PSSI chairman Nurdin Halid said in a press release."We were concerned that he would not be objective. It would be neutral if the referee came from Japan or China, instead of from the Mideast. This protest is not to find an excuse for our defeat, but we could see how the referee was not on our side. It will not change the result but we hope our protest will improve the remaining matches," Nurdin said.

According to The Jakarta Post, even President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who watched the match from a VIP box with Cabinet members, questioned the refereeing. "I don't understand why a referee who has the same language and culture as Saudi Arabia was assigned to lead this match," he said.

The newspaper said AFC Secretary-General Dato Paul Mony Samuel later promised to evaluate the complaint, adding "We will also take into account the origin of a referee before assigning them to lead a match." However AFP quoted AFC Director of Communications Clare Kenny Tipton denying the appointment was unfair to Indonesia. "There are no rules (governing which nationalities can referee which others),'' she said. "Occasionally we have a political conflict so obviously common sense prevails but there are no specific regulations other than you can't have someone from the same nationality refereeing their own country's matches.''

Malaysian FA Deputy Pre resigns after Cup losses

The Deputy President of the Football Association of Malaysia has resigned, one day after the AFC Asian Cup co-hosts suffered a second straight heavy defeat. Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah announced his decision in a public letter faxed to local news agency Bernama on Sunday. Abdullah, also an executive member of the Asian Football Confederation, had criticised national coach Norizan Bakar after Malaysia lost 5-1 to China in their Group C opener on Tuesday.

According to Nazvi Careem of Reuters, the resignation completed a difficult few months for Abdullah, who was also at a the centre of English Premier League champions Manchester United's controversial trip to Malaysia. "The AFC put intense pressure on the FAM to cancel United's proposed match against a Malaysia select team on 27 July in order not to divert attention from the Asian Cup final two days later in Jakarta. Abdullah made the bold decision to carry on with the match and risk the wrath of both the AFC and FIFA. In the end, his gesture of defiance was nullified with United cancelling the match because of AFC's refusal to sanction their visit."

AFC to ban foreign tours during Asian Cup 2011

Asian Football Confederation President Mohamed bin Hammam has confirmed he plans to work with UEFA to implement a ban on teams touring the continent during the Asian Cup 2011. This year's Asian Cup preparation was overshadowed by English Premier League champions Manchester United’s commercial tour plans which overlapped the AFC's tournament. United were forced to cancel one of the four matches, in Kuala Lumpur, because the Football Association of Malaysia, a Cup co-host, had contracted not to hold any other football games during the course of the Asian Cup finals. However United’s other games in Japan, South Korea and Macau will go ahead, as will the Peace Cup in South Korea and the Barclays Asia Trophy in Hong Kong this month.

“Yes, it is feasible,” he said when asked by AFP if a total ban was possible on European teams touring the region during the 2011 finals. “We will be in discussions, either (to ban tours) in the 16 countries participating in the finals or all of Asia. It will be discussed and settled by the end of this year. It is a priority issue to be discussed. I will seek understanding between the Asian confederation and UEFA and all major leagues in Europe to protect the month of the Asian Cup in 2011.

"We have two windows to organise our competition. It is the calendar FIFA has drawn up. We cannot organise our competition unless it is in June or July or January, when many European leagues have a break. We respect this calendar and we are expecting understanding from the major clubs in Europe and the major leagues in Europe, so I don’t think we will be having any problems in 2011. We are going to resolve it well in advance.”

Qatar is the only nation to have lodged a bid to host the 2011 finals after Iran and India pulled out. Given the searing heat in the Gulf state in June and July, January would be the only feasible time to hold the competition. This raises the prospect of a club versus country row with the English Premier League not breaking for winter. Bin Hammam, though, said he was not concerned. “No, not at all because this is part of the FIFA calendar that we can organise the competition in January, with the support of the major leagues in the world.”

Bin Hammam also expressed confidence in Qatar's bid for the 2011 event - the only candidate to apply. He told Xinhua that the selection process could be thrown open again if the Executive Committee is not satisfied with the quality of the application. "If the Executive Committee is not happy with Qatar's bid on July 29 then we will throw it open again, but so far we are happy. If the Executive Committee is not happy with the presentation then Qatar should be hosts, or if the Executive Committee has doubts or are not happy with Qatar's bid, then we will have no alternative but to open up to other countries to bid. I do believe that Qatar will pass on July 29," the former President of the Qatar Football Association said.

FAM-AFC veteran nominated for Asian Hall of Fame

The Olympic Council of Malaysia will submit the name of former OCM President Tan Sri Hamzah Abu Samah for the Lifetime Achievement Award for the first Asian Sports Awards Hall of Fame on 2 November. “He has contributed a lot for sports especially in football as the Football Association of Malaysia President and also the President of the Asian Football Confederation,” said Datuk Sieh Kok Chi, who is OCM Secretary and also one of the judges for the Asian Sports Awards.

The ASA is a recognition program conceived by Stropt and Sports Ltd in collaboration with the Asian Sports Press Union. ASPU vice-president and chairman of the judging panel, George Dass, said that ASA’s Hall of Fame was formed to recognise Asian greats for their exceptional achievements worldwide. “In most cases the inductees hold world or Olympic records. This year’s list only had “living greats”, next year’s list may include those who have since passed away but whose contributions live on,” he told Aftar Singh of The Star.

Hall of Fame inductees are picked by a panel of judges comprising leading sports administrators and sports writers across Asia. Besides the induction of the 52 sports icons from Asia, there will be main awards in six main categories - Asian Sportsman of the Year, Asian Sportswomen of the Year; Asian Team of the Year (men); Asian Team of the Year (women); Lifetime Achievement Award and Humanitarian Award.

The ceremony is expected to reach some 150 million homes across Asia, thanks to a partnership with ESPN STAR Sports. In May, Stropt & Sports Chairman Datuk Vincent Lee said ESPN STAR Sports would promote the awards through ESPN SportsCenter with additional exposure on the ESPN and STAR Sports channels. Lee is also President of Naga DDB Sdn Bhd advertising agency and President of the Association of Accredited Advertising Agents Malaysia.

"The ASA program was developed with a dream to bind Asia together through a common agenda that builds sports celebrity role models and brand ambassadors," he told Bernama newsagency. The Asia-wide recognition, Lee said, would allow Asian sports stars to be "branded" and provide them opportunities to endorse various sports merchandise and other charitable works under the ASA's Sports for Humanity theme.

2007 AFC Cup the first professional says President

For Asian Football Confederation President Mohamed bin Hammam, professionalism is the key as the AFC Asian Cup 2007. "This is actually the first time we have put the Asian Cup in a professional way of organisation, frankly speaking,” Hammam told PA Sport. “I do believe that most or all of the competitions organised before this one were sort of amateur, in terms of the organisation. And I believe the success or failure of those competitions – in terms of organisation, in terms of fan attendance, bad or good performance – was a surprise. No one was behind it to make it successful or not. Now there are a lot of professionals working on the competition. We have also taking help, third parties if you like, to help and support us in terms of ticketing, promotion. We have the experience now of seeing how the World Cup is organised, and how UEFA organise their competitions and we have to work to make sure we learn from their approach. It is a professional way of handling the tournament.”

With four hosts, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam, sharing the responsibility of ensuring that the AFC Asian Cup 2007 exceeds the standards set by previous events, the challenges have been significant. “You are dealing with different regimes, different governments and maybe also we tried to bring this competition from the amateur way of handling it to a professional way of handling it and that has also brought some conflicts, if I may say, because we wanted everything done earlier and in perfect condition and in good time,” said Hammam. “At the end of the day I think everybody has seen it as a challenge, has accepted the challenge and we are in the perfect situation to judge the good work done by the national associations, the local organising committees and the AFC. I think we are going to witness a new competition and you will see a very successful competition from all aspects. We all accepted the challenges and we want to produce a good Asian Cup. I never thought we were going to face this volume of challenges, and that’s not only because we are organising the event in four countries or the financial or logistical challenges. The most important part of it is because we want to take this competition out of the amateur way of handling it and making it professional.”

The arrival of Australia into the AFC is almost certain to raise standards on the pitch: “I think Australia can bring a lot to the competition, in terms of the standard because most of them are playing in the advanced leagues outside Australia,” Bin Hammam said. “Before, we have had players who are playing in Europe, for example, but very few. But now we have a team where maybe all, or most, of their players are playing outside and that is the big advantage for our competition because from a technical standard Australia are raising the level. We have brought in a good federation and we have also brought in a country with a good economy that can support the future revenues of the competition. The advantages of bringing Australia in mean it was worth doing. The most important thing is that we have a team that is playing at international standards and it will be a surprise to me if they are not in the final, but it will not be an easy competition for them.”

Defending champions Japan, three-time winners Iran and Saudi Arabia as well as 2002 World Cup semi-finalists South Korea should draw even more fans towards Asian football. “These are all Asian teams and we are all Asian fans and it is time to stand behind Asian football and welcome the idea,” he said. “Definitely there will be entertainment if that’s what you are looking for and the participating teams can introduce that. I really want to urge fans from all around the continent and from the four host countries to come and support Asian football.”

Asian Cup confident to handle weather and tickets

With a cyclonic storm lashing parts of Vietnam just days before the kickoff on Saturday and much of the region entering the monsoon season, the prospect of rain affecting Asian Cup matches concerned Asian Football Confederation President Mohamed bin Hammam on the eve of the tournament opener. The weather "is the one thing beyond our control. It's definitely a concern for us,. We have to hope and pray it is OK," he said, adding there are contingencies to postpone matches if conditions get too bad. "We're not going to risk the health of the players," he told Associated Press.

Bin Hammam, however, said the AFC is "now we're very satisfied" with the organisation in the four host countries. "I admit in the beginning we were having doubts about how it would work. But everybody has accepted the challenge and reached a level to meet the expectations of the AFC and the fans of Asia."

And while the tournament has also been criticised for low ticket sales and for failing to generate local excitement, he said he was encouraged by the more than 30,000 seats sold in advance for the opening match. "The figures I have are very good," Bin Hammam said, explaining that it was typical in the region for fans to wait until match day to buy tickets rather than purchase in advance. "I'm sure you'll witness a full stadium tomorrow and on July 29 (in Jakarta), regardless of who is in the final."

Australia, which made the second round at the last World Cup before being knocked-out by eventual champion Italy with a last-minute goal, has close to a full strength team and is among the favorites to claim the title. The Australians quit the Oceania Football Confederation at the start of last year and Bin Hammam said "it was the best move we ever took" to accept Australia into Asia. With the likes of English Premier League stars Harry Kewell and Mark Viduka, "Australia has already impacted the competition, adding some necessary flavor," he said.

Vietnam adds US$1.2M to AFC's Asian Cup spend

To co-host the AFC Asian Cup 2007, the biggest football tournament that Vietnam has held so far, US$1.25 million has been invested, particularly on security. However, according to the Vietnam Football Federation Vice Secretary General, Duong Nghiep Khoi, the Asian Football Confederation pays for almost everything. "Vietnam doesn’t have to spend much money, only work hard," he told VietNamNet Bridge.

The Asian Cup is considered a chance to advertise Vietnam’s football to the world. "We organised the 2003 South East Asian Games so we have had some experience. Preparations for Asian Cup 2007 have been completed. Vietnam is ready for a successful tournament. We are trying to organise the event very well to prove that Vietnam is able to host international events,” said Khoi.

For security, the AFC's top concern and the area in which Vietnam has spent the largest amount of money, the National Committee for Sports and Physical Training and the VFF asked for assistance from the Ministry of Public Security. They also hired guards from private companies and mobilised security forces of local stadiums. The total number of security staff at Asian Cup 2007 is now up to several thousand.

Japanese fans coming to Vietnam is the highest amongst the three guest teams in group B. According to initial statistics, at least 4,000 Japanese have booked tickets for Asian Cup through travel firms in Vietnam. In addition, independent fans from Japan are trying to buy tickets through ticket distributors. Several months before the event, some high-class hotels in Hanoi were booked by Japanese fans. Notably, up to 300 Japanese reporters will come to Vietnam for the event.

Contenders for AFC Women's Player of the Year

Australia's Matildas striking duo Kate Gill and Sarah Walsh, North Korea captain Kum Suk Ri, veteran Japan midfielder Homare Sawa and Junpen Seesraum of Thailand have been announced by the Asian Football Confederation as contenders for the 2007 AFC Women’s Player of the Year award to be announced on 6 November in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The AFC Women’s Player of the Year award will go to the most outstanding women’s player who has performed consistently at AFC and/or FIFA competitions with the top three nominees to be announced in October.

Malaysian tourism boss says MU decision "wierd"

After talks with Manchester United officials in London, Malaysia's Tourism Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor told Bernama news service that fans may have to wait next year to see the English Premier League champion play in Malaysia. "I've done my utmost. I apologise to MU fans in Malaysia. It looks like we have to wait next year," he said via teleconferencing with Malaysian journalists in Valencia and London after the meeting. MU, represented by relationship director Nick Humphreys and two other officials, Keith Impey and Nick Lockwood, explained that the club could not meet Malaysia's request as it did not want to face any action from the international football governing body, FIFA.

Tengku Adnan said he was disappointed with Asian Football Confederation , led by Mohammed Bin Hammam, for refusing to consider Malaysia's appeal for MU to be allowed to play in the country on 27 July. "What I find weird is that AFC allows the club to play in Japan, Seoul and Macau," he added. He said if AFC feared that MU's presence in Kuala Lumpur could have implications on the Asia Cup, then it should consider allowing the club to play in Johor Baharu or Penang.

MU cancelled its friendly match with Malaysia on July 27 after FIFA president Joseph S`Blatter and Bin Hammam refused to give the greenlight because it coincides with the Asia Cup. MU, in a message posted on its website, said the club would not come to Malaysia if there was a dispute. Meanwhile, Humphreys, who was present during the news conference in London, reiterated that it had always been MU's wish to play in Malaysia to show their appreciation to the local fans. "However, in this case, we have to listen to AFC. We have our law and regulation. It's really an unfortunate situation that we have to cancel the trip to Malaysia this year," he added.

Questions to AFC President Bin Hammam

QUESTIONS TO AFC PRESIDENT MOHAMED BIN HAMMAM ON

PROFESSIONALISM, WOMEN'S FOOTBALL AND ASIAN CUP

Portrayed as “high-handed”, “selfish” and “xenophobic” by Malaysian Manchester United fans for his convincing arguments that caused the club to cancel its Asian Cup-clashing commercial game in Kuala Lumpur, Asian Football Confederation two-term President Mohamed Bin Hammam is not a man of towering physique. Rather it is his quiet demeanour, steely concentration and occasional flashes of passion that illustrate the determination so often evident in his public statements.

To him, for instance, Man United’s scheduled game was not just a negative impact on the AFC’s tournament but also "immoral, unethical, and disrespectful" to Asian football, and “a kind of colonialism.” Mind you, two year’s earlier he’d already admonished Real Madrid for a China tour described by media as a “gold-digging” exercise. “European clubs have to remember that our national associations, players and fans look to them not as money-minded opportunists but as leaders and role-models in the game,” he warned.

But Bin Hammam is equally as blunt with issues within the Asian family where “face” is often given a reverence far above competency. While praising India’s prospects on a recent tour he pointed out antiquated club houses. "With the kind of facilities they have, India should not even dream of being in the World Cup for another 100 years," he quipped.

And on the management and marketing issues affecting next month’s Asian Cup: "With four countries this is a problem. It involves a lot of marketing and a lot of energy. You get something from one government, but not another. Most of them are amateurs hardly committed to their associations, maybe just an hour a day. We have to have commitment. If one country fulfils its obligation and another one doesn’t, this is no good to us."

The recently re-elected Asian leader (and continuing Chairman of the world football body, FIFA’s powerful development-focussed GOAL Program) shared coffee with Asian Football Business Review at AFC House in Kuala Lumpur and responded to our questions on three aspects of his football modernisation drive in Asia..


How serious are you about building Professional Leagues?

Bin Hammam’s planning for football in Asia commenced during his six years in the AFC Executive Committee, with time as Chairman of its Finance Committee and Vice-Chairman of its Development Fund, before standing for election as President and winning in August 2002. “I saw that there was scope for me to make changes,” he said, explaining why he stood for the top post.

One month later he introduced his Vision Asia concept which was inaugurated as the AFC’s long-term football development program at a congress in his home town, Doha, Qatar, in January 2003. In the program, Hammam identified 11 disciplines to be address by Asian football stakeholders wanting to catch up with their European counterparts: national associations, marketing, grassroots, coach education, referees, sports medicine; men's competitions, women's competitions, futsal; media, and fans.

“We learnt from the experiences of Europe and FIFA and then detailed what we were to do and how to do it, the next steps, in advance,” he said. This has resulted in fifteen current and ongoing projects in six countries, including China, India, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Iran and Oman. These are focussed on establishing new metropolitan and provincial-level clubs and leagues from the ground-up.

Ironically, in 2005 Bin Hammam was approached at a UEFA congress by the European confederation’s then Chief Executive, Lars-Christer Olsson. “He told me he wanted to introduce a plan of action for Europe and I said I was willing to help,” he recalled. “”Thank you,’ said Olsson, ‘can we call it Vision Europe?” I said, “why not!”

The drive for professional leagues, announced in 2005 for 2009, is part of the Vision Asia, step-by-step strategy.

“We are not pushing away the amateur side of the game in this program, he said. “Ninety-nine percent is played and enjoyed at the amateur level and only one percent is played at the top. What we must do is separate the amateur from the professional so that the elite can grow and be competitive. We know what happened in European football and what is successful but we have a culture gap in Asia.

“For instance, in our surveys of national associations we found two vocabularies. There would be talk of teams and not clubs and of tournaments and not leagues. Some would talk of having memberships in the thousands. Changing the culture means getting the professional terminology correct.. It means understanding professionalism and recognising the importance of commercialism. We have to change the mentality and accept that professional football has to be organised like a business. Revenue is necessary; it is our top priority," he reiterated.

The drive to professionalism is not expected to be accepted uniformly throughout the vast Asian confederation. Few nations currently have the level of professionalism that meets the AFC’s criteria. The “carrot” for improvement is participating in the ever-more popular Asian Champions League. In 2009, only clubs from countries with professional leagues will be able to participate in the ACL – even if that means they are drawn from five or six countries. Clubs from leagues that don’t qualify will be deemed amateur and streamed in the AFC’s two lower club competitions, the AFC Cup and the President’s Cup.

“The timetable is fixed,” the President confirmed.



How serious are you about building Women’s Football?

“We are definitely trying to enhance women’s football. I told the AFC Executive Committee, if we believe in women’s football then we must do everything to make it a success. If it’s just a luxury thing then we shouldn’t do it. So we are committed 100% to supporting development in the women's game in administration, coaching, players and grassroots,” Bin Hammam said..

“Women have a right to be involved in football. It is not a gift. They deserve it. Resources are still negligible, almost zero and funds are a major restriction. However we have made it possible for the AFC to finance it and to improve the standards. We’ve also set-up the criteria for all our member associations and everyone has to meet that criteria. .They have to build committees and clubs otherwise they’ll be left behind. Now Asia is leading the world in women’s youth football.,” he said.

He gave as examples North Korea and China coming first and second in last year's FIFA U-20 Women’s World Championship and China's Ma Xiaoxu named player of the tournament. He said there were now more senior and junior women's competitions in the region, “even in nations that used to disallow women's football previously." The AFC is raising its number of women executive committee members to at least four and, this year, there will be the first separate AFC awards night to further enhance women’s football.

“When women share the same environment as men at all levels, I can say that success for women’s football is achievable. And for the doubters, particularly when I launched the idea of allocating seats for women on the Executive Committee, it is being proven that when women are in the structure and with more clubs and leagues, there is better performance.

“And now, in women’s football, Asia is being discovered to be more liberal than Europe,” the President quipped.



How serious are you about restricting foreign teams visiting the region during the Asian Cup tournament?


Mohamed Bin Hammam sensed immediately we were referring to his successful campaign against Manchester United’s scheduled game in Kuala Lumpur and the AFC's silence on the English Premier League’s Barclays Asian Trophy being played in Hang Kong and the larger Peace Cup being played in Seoul, South Korea during the Asian Cup..

“We had agreements with the four host countries of this year’s Asian Cup that they would not promote any other football activity immediately before, during and immediately after the tournament. That was the issue.

“As for Manchester United, they took a lot of criticism for trying to keep their game in Malaysia but, when they became aware of Malaysia’s agreement with us, all credit to them, they did realise their responsibility.

“The Barclay Asian Trophy and any other events held outside of the four Asian Cup hosts were not big issues for us,” he explained.

“Really?,” we asked.

“Of course, in 2011 it will be different, the President assured. “In future we will insist there are no clashes with the Asian Cup. After all, it is only four weeks out of four years and we must protect Asia’s players and coaches during this important event.”