April 14 – Setting new records has become commonplace for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and after a year that saw multiple records achieved across all its activities, the AFC capped it with a fast-paced Congress that took under 90 minutes to complete.
With no elections, the 35th AFC Congress 2025 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, was pretty much all about taking care of business.
The conference opened with a moment of silence led by AFC president Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa who expressed condolences for the communities devastated by the ongoing conflict in Palestine as well as those impacted in Myanmar and Thailand by the earthquake which has claimed more than 3,000 lives.
“The AFC stands in solidarity with the people of Palestine, Myanmar and Thailand in this time of grief and mourning,” said Salman.
“The thoughts and prayers of the Asian football family are with all those who have lost their lives and homes and we hope that everyone impacted will find strength and comfort in the compassion from those around them.”
The congress, which with its speed of progress demonstrated the unity and common purpose currently within Asia football, reflected on a record year of activity.
The last of the confederations to come fully out of the global pandemic, the AFC is now firing on all cylinders, reflected by the runaway success of the 2023 Asian Cup, held in Qatar in January 2024, and the delivery of a record roster of 16 competitions – a major rise from the 11 competitions organised in 2023.
All of this has taken place at the same time as a revamp of the confederation’s key club competitions.
“Our competition reforms, including our men and women’s club competitions, are central to our ambitions, as envisaged through the AFC’s Vision and Mission, and I am delighted to note that the foundations for the Asian football family to reach new summits of excellence is stronger than ever,” said Shaikh Salman.
“We can take great pride in our achievements and our notable advancements are largely due to the unity of the Asian football family in spearheading our reforms’ agenda and the AFC’s support for all our members at every level.”
None of this would have been possible without a strong financial underpinning and the AFC reported an overall investment expenditure increase of 63.9% to 303 million in 2024. The congress also approved the budgets for 2025 and 2026.
A chunk of the budget will go into the AFC’s education programmes as it continue to equip federations with the expertise and knowledge to develop their eco-systems.
“The AFC has reinforced its desire to strengthen the beautiful game throughout the Continent by driving greater investment towards establishing more tailored assistance and a comprehensive suite of development programmes for our MAs and Ras,” said Salman.
“These are exciting times for Asian football and the coming years offer a continuation of our shared journey as we strive to exceed expectations, reach unprecedented levels of success, and further establish the AFC as a leading Confederation.”
On the near horizon are the next editions of the AFC’s leading women’s and men’s Asian Cups in Australia in 2026 and Saudi Arabia in 2027. Salman said he fully expected those to set the Asian performance bar higher again.
Two days earlier Salman had announced to his executive committee that a record seven nations were in the bidding process for the Asian Cup 2031.
On the evidence of this congress, Asia is buzzing.
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