December 10 – Northern Mariana Islands Football Association (NMIFA) became the 47th full Member Association of the Asian Football Confederation at the 30th AFC Congress yesterday.
The online Congress unanimously approved the application of the NMIFA, which has been an Associate Member of the AFC since July 2009.
AFC president Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa welcomed NMIFA into the AFC, saying: “We are proud to welcome the Northern Mariana Islands Football Association as the newest ordinary member of the AFC family. Under the leadership of NMIFA President Jerry Tan, I have no doubts that the game will continue to scale greater heights.”
At the congress the AFC also approved its financial report for 2019 which showed income of $192.8 million and a reduction in the AFC’s deficit of $53.7 million, down €56.3 million from the budgeted figure. The biggest figures to come out of the report were the huge leap the AFC achieved over the year in its media profile. There were more than 730 million broadcast viewers to AFC competitions and more than 890.1 million digital interactions.
In 2019 the AFC delivered 13 competitions, compared to the two it will deliver in 2020. The U23 men’s finals were played in February before the lockdown that curtailed the Champions League that will now complete this month in Doha.
The AFC is transitioning to a new commercial rights sales partner. The impact of the pandemic on 2020 commercial revenue is still being quantified with a number of negotiations in play. Looking forward and Covid-permitting, the AFC faces a packed calendar across its region not just with its own championships but with member association hosting of two Club World Cup, the Olympic Games in Tokyo and the debut of the Arab Cup in Qatar as the official test event for the 2022 World Cup.
The AFC also has to start its own 2022 World Cup qualification process, the rights for which have now been centralised with its commercial partner and which, of all the football taking place in the region, will likely generate the most competitive interest.
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