Off the wire
• Citizens protest against museum's removing of exhibits on Japanese atrocities in WWII  • Property sector in Australia welcome more foreign investment  • Athletic Club legend Iraola to leave at end of the season  • Realization of "Chinese Dream" to boost Sino-Bulgarian ties: ambassador  • Nepal quake death toll climbs to 5,844  • Documentary highlights Sino-Africa cultural integration screened in Nairobi  • Air France-KLM reports less loss in Q1  • New pair of pandas arrive in Macao  • Zambia to host Land-Locked Developing Countries Conference  • 2 soldiers, 1 civilian killed in northern Mali  
You are here: 　 Home

Shaikh Salman re-elected AFC president

Xinhua, April 30, 2015 Adjust font size:

Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa has been re-elected as the AFC President following Thursday's election at the 26th AFC Ordinary Congress.

The AFC Congress is the Asian Football Confederation's highest decision-making body, with all its member associations represented at its biannual meetings. The main items on the agenda of this edition are the elections for key AFC and FIFA positions.

Shaikh Salman, as the sole candidate for AFC presidency, won the election by acclamation for a four-year term until 2019. He was initially elected AFC president at the 25th Ordinary Congress in 2013.

Shaikh Salman said: "I am humbled and honored to stand unopposed for the position of AFC President and FIFA Vice-President. I take this as a sign of your satisfaction with the work that I have done so far and your trust in me to lead this unique Confederation."

In 2011, former president Bin Hamman was suspected of offering bribery to vie for FIFA presidency and suspended by FIFA. Zhang Jilong, vice president of AFC was appointed acting president until the 2013 AFC congress.

Since the 2013 Congress, AFC have taken some important decisions such as revamping the format of the AFC Asian Cup by increasing the number of participating teams to 24 in 2019, merging the preliminary qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup with the qualifiers for the Asian Cup, and separating South-Central into two zones.

Elections for three seats on the FIFA Executive Committee and for the 21 remaining places on the AFC Executive Committee also took place.

Kuwait FA President Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah was elected onto the FIFA Executive Committee for a two-year period between 2015 and 2017.

Speaking after his election, Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah said: "It is a real honor to have been elected by AFC family as an Asian representative on the FIFA Executive Committee. I would like to express my gratitude to my colleagues for supporting and voting for me and to stress my commitment to using this position for the benefit of football in Asia and all regions worldwide."

The other two FIFA Executive Committee membership went to Japan's Kohzo Tashima and HRH Prince Abdullah Al-Haj Ibni Sultan Hj Ahmad Shah from Malaysia, with their term from 2015 to 2019.

Five candidates won the vice president election by acclamation as each zone has one candidate, including Winston Lee Boon Aun from Singapore, Zhang Jilong from China, Ali Kafashian Naeini from Iran, Saoud A. Aziz M A Al Mohannadi from Qatar and Praful Manoharbhai Patel from India. Endi