Power shifts to the West

[blahblah]

In a major change Dr Chung Mong-Joon has lost his FIFA Vice-President seat to Jordan’s HRH Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein, another move shoring up Bin Hammam's support and possible push for Sep Blatter's seat.

The AFC Executive Committee is thus:

AFC Executive Committee 2011-2015

AFC President
Mohamed Bin Hammam (Qatar)

FIFA Vice President
HRH Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein (Jordan)

FIFA Executive Committee Members
Vernon Manilal Fernando (Sri Lanka)
Worawi Makudi (Thailand)

AFC Vice Presidents
Yusof Al Serkal (UAE)
Zhang Jilong (China)
Ganesh Thapa (Nepal)
HRH Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmed Shah (Malaysia)

AFC Female Member (South & Central)
Mahfuza Akhter (Bangladesh)

AFC EXCO Members
H.E. Shk. Ali Bin Khalifa Al Khalifa (Bahrain)
Dr Hafez I. Al Medlej (Saudi Arabia)
Sayyid Khalid Hamed Al Busaidi (Oman)
Praful Patel (India)
Makhdoom Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat (Pakistan)
Ali Azim (Maldives)
Lee Boo Aun Winston (Singapore)
Tran Quoc Tuan (Vietnam)
Zaw Zaw (Myanmar)
Ganbold Buyannemekh (Mongolia)
Kohzo Tashima (Japan)
Richard K. Lai (Guam)

*Note: The positions of AFC Female Vice President Moya Dodd (Australia) and AFC Female Executive Member Kim Sun-hui (DPR Korea) were not up for election

[Stuckey]

Could an Australian nominate?

And i am now confused as to whether Australia should be part of Asia for go for an Asian split which I have hear talk of, It sounds like Asia is moving closer to being a Football superpower but I am unsure as to how much countries besides the Middle Eastern countries will benefit from it.

How strong is the ASEAN confederation? (not that it’s a ridgy didge confederation)

[blahblah]

Could an Australian nominate?

And i am now confused as to whether Australia should be part of Asia for go for an Asian split which I have hear talk of, It sounds like Asia is moving closer to being a Football superpower but I am unsure as to how much countries besides the Middle Eastern countries will benefit from it.

How strong is the ASEAN confederation? (not that it’s a ridgy didge confederation)

a) For which position? Some of the positions in the AFC Exco are for regional representation and I believe for those purposes Australia comes under ASEAN at this point in time. We already have an Australian AFC Vice-President in Moya Dodd. Otherwise you need to have the support of the other federations in order to gain any of the seats, so nominate yes but only if you have the numbers.

b)No, Asia should not split. Saudi & Iran need to be playing against sides like South Korea, Japan and Australia if they are to progress as footballing nations. Jordan, UAE, Qatar, Uzbekistan etc also need the extra hit-outs. Splitting Asia does no-one any good. Merging OFC would see our players facing 48 hours of travel on occassions rather than five or six to places such as Dubai. There is no push from the AFC to do anything other than maintain the confederation as is. The split talk is primarly from fans who need to do a little homework.

c)ASEAN isn't that strong. It's growing and things are improving however they have a long way to go and are carrying some very weak members such as Cambodia.

[Stuckey]

b)No, Asia should not split. Saudi & Iran need to be playing against sides like South Korea, Japan and Australia if they are to progress as footballing nations. Jordan, UAE, Qatar, Uzbekistan etc also need the extra hit-outs. Splitting Asia does no-one any good. Merging OFC would see our players facing 48 hours of travel on occassions rather than five or six to places such as Dubai. There is no push from the AFC to do anything other than maintain the confederation as is. The split talk is primarly from fans who need to do a little homework.

I heard a plan was every country west of India (including India) would be West Asian Confederation
Every country east of India (roughly speaking) would be East Asia and this would absorb OFC

[blahblah]

I heard a plan was every country west of India (including India) would be West Asian Confederation
Every country east of India (roughly speaking) would be East Asia and this would absorb OFC

No, idle speculation that has been thrown up by some journo's however to my knowledge none of the federations want it. There was some talk of it back in 2005 when Australia was entering the AFC however it would leave any West Asian Confederation with a limited number of members and hence politically weak. Hence it was never going to happen.

That and the fact that the OFC doesn't want to merge.

[Stuckey]

Yeah obviously its not as simple as how i said it but yeah

I wonder if countries would make more noise about if others did? I can imagine no one would speak ill of it till someone else does.

[blahblah]

Yeah obviously its not as simple as how i said it but yeah

To be fair it will be interesting to see how the Korean's react now there are no Koreans (North or South) or Japanese in the upper echelons of the AFC

[shinAUFC]

blahblah, Do you think the extra power Asia is gaining could evolve in a similar way India has more or less taken over the game at administration level and what does it mean for Australia.

With a combined 2.6 billion people from India and China rapidly pushing out of poverty and into middle class.
New developing leagues in places like Indonesia with a population of 240 million, not to mention oil rich countries like Qatar. The J-leagues rapid growth and quality continually growing. I feel the next 10/15 years will be VERY interesting indeed and where the money/power falls.

I Always get the feeling we were only let in asia to help gain extra WC spots. I dont think australia will ever really have any power

[Stuckey]

Our place in the Asian confederation once again highlights Australia's place in the world

Adelaide is to Australia what Australia is to the rest of the World

[blahblah]

blahblah, Do you think the extra power Asia is gaining could evolve in a similar way India has more or less taken over the game at administration level and what does it mean for Australia.

With a combined 2.6 billion people from India and China rapidly pushing out of poverty and into middle class.
New developing leagues in places like Indonesia with a population of 240 million, not to mention oil rich countries like Qatar. The J-leagues rapid growth and quality continually growing. I feel the next 10/15 years will be VERY interesting indeed and where the money/power falls.

I Always get the feeling we were only let in asia to help gain extra WC spots. I dont think australia will ever really have any power

I don't think that Asia will come to dominate football administration in the medium term though its growth is resulting in a political shift away from Europe & South America in a way that CAF and CONCACAF are unable to emulate. Bin Hammam has a realistic chance of unseating Blatter, now that would be interesting indeed.

I think we were let into Asia partly to increase the AFC power base but primarily to increase the competitiveness of the confederation, and it has worked. Asian sides now have to put far more effort into their football development if they want a spot at the World Cup, in turn becoming better teams.

[sevengoals]

Our place in the Asian confederation once again highlights Australia's place in the world

Adelaide is to Australia what Australia is to the rest of the World

You got it.

[Steelinho]

Sadly, it's all leading to really poor articles like this:

http://theworldgame.sbs.com.au/jesse-fi ... -Asian-Cup

And it's only going to get worse. Soon, everyone will be a Val.

[Yids]

How foolish. Although I believe Qatar 2022 will be a poor spectacle, to actually hint the Qatar are purchasing goals is just madness. He makes maybe 1 or 2 good points, but it seems his views on Qatar are too biased in this article.

[Steelinho]

It's more than foolish. It's embarassing to think that one of our higher-profile football writers is vomiting this kind of garbage. It blackens our reputation within the confederation.


It's almost funny that the only nations complaining (and still complaining) about the World Cup bids are Australia, the US and England; the three most arrogant nations in the bidding process. Haven't heard boo from Iberia, Holland or the Asias.

[Yids]

I have many Dutch friends who are furious over Russia getting the World Cup. I know it's a extremely minor percent of the population, but I believe many are thinking bribery was involved.

Why shouldn't these nations complain? Too be honest, I don't really mind Russia having the World Cup, but Qatar? I understand the importance of having the World Cup in different continents, but a country with a population almost smaller than Adelaide is ridiculous. The logistical, ethical and moral problems this World Cup is going to cause...