By Andrew Warshaw
February 23 – Organisers of Asia’s main football forum in Jordan have set a new date for the spring summit, pushing it back to within three weeks of the FIFA presidential election and therefore generating considerably more interest.
The conference, organised by Soccerex in co-operation with the Asian Football Development Project founded by FIFA presidential candidate Prince Ali bin al-Hussein, was originally slated for mid-April but has now been rescheduled set for May 3-4 for logistical reasons to make sure as many of football’s global movers and shakers as possible can attend.
With the FIFA election so close, it is anticipated that all four candidates, including present incumbent Sepp Blatter, will be invited for what will be one of the last opportunities to make their respective voices heard before the vote in Zurich on May 29.
The new date has also been given wider significance by the fact that the forum on the banks of the Dead Sea will now take place just days after the Asian Football Association’s Congress in Bahrain. It also means officials from the CONCACAF confederation will be able to attend which may have been awkward in April given that CONCACAF’s own Congress has been brought forward.
“We have long enjoyed a good working relationship with CONCACAF and were delighted to welcome a significant CONCACAF delegation, led by President Jeffrey Webb, to two of our events in 2014,” a Soccerex statement said.
“With this in mind, following discussion with our partners, we have taken the decision to move the Asian Forum to the new dates.”
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