The 29th Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Congress has elected AFC vice presidents from each of the five Asian football zones in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Saturday. Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat has been elected as vice president for the South Zone and will serve for the next four-year term. It is for the first time in AFC history, a Pakistani has been elected to the position. Syed Faisal said in a statement yesterday that AFC’s vice presidency is a matter of pride for Pakistan. “ I will use my experience for the promotion of football in Asia. And I will play every possible role for improvement of football in Pakistan.”
It is pertinent here to mention that AFC do not recognise the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) led by Syed Ashfaq Hussain during the elections conducted on the directions of the Supreme Court of Pakistan. A letter issued by the AFC General Secretary made it clear that it accepts Faisal Saleh as the PFF’s president. A joint delegation of FIFA and AFC will be visiting Pakistan soon to probe the PFF situation. Its report will be crucial for the future of football in the country. Besides Faisal Saleh, Saoud A Aziz M A Al-Mohannadi (Qatar) has been re-elected by acclamation for another four-year term for the West Zone, whereas Mehdi Taj (Islamic Republic of Iran) has been elected for the Central Zone, Zaw Zaw (Myanmar) for ASEAN Zone and Ganbaatar Amgalanbaatar (Mongolia) is elected as the new AFC vice president for the East Zone.