ExCo condemns criticism of referees

AFC ExCo condemned SAFF President Prince Sultan Bin Fahad Bin Abdul Aziz for his criticism of Al Serkal and Asian referees following a FIFA World Cup 2010 qualifying match on November 19 last year between Saudi Arabiaand KoreaRepublic.

AFC President Mohamed Bin Hammam said: “We condemn the criticism levelled at the AFC Referees Committee, its chairman and Asian referees. We urge everyone to adhere to the principles of sportsmanship.”

The Saudis were unhappy with the performance of the referee in the match, which the Koreans won 2-0.

However, a subsequent investigation found that the referee in question, Singapore’s Abdul Bashir Abdul Malik, had a strong record and was selected for the match on merit.

The Executive Committee also approved the formation of new ad hoc committees.

As Asia enters into the professional era, and to pre-empt the creation of special interest groups outside the umbrella of Member Associations and AFC, the President proposed the setting up of four new Ad Hoc Committees.

These committees would recommend to the Executive Committee amendments or suggestions to the Statutes, Rules and Regulations of AFC.

The committees are:

AFC Professional Leagues Ad Hoc Committee

AFC Professional Clubs Ad Hoc Committee

AFC Professional Players Ad Hoc Committee

AFC National Associations Ad Hoc Committee

The committees will include, but not be limited to, representatives of leagues, clubs and player representatives from Member Associations taking part in the AFC Champions League.

The Executive Committee also approved a proposal to bring AFC Statutes in line with numerous regulations passed by the AFC Executive Committee and FIFA regulations.

A key amendment, subject to AFC Congress approval in May, is that the elected AFC President shall serve as a FIFA Vice President and each zone shall be entitled to have one representative to the FIFA Executive Committee.

Another crucial amendment is that candidates for the positions of President and FIFA Executive Committee must have served as members of the AFC Executive Committee for at least one full term of office of four years and it must have been during the preceding term.

In other decisions, the Northern Mariana Islands Football Association’s application to be part of AFC is to be considered after the body’s resignation is accepted by the Oceania Football Confederation.

Also, with regard to the ban on foreign football teams in all countries categorised in the same zone as the host of the AFC Asian Cup, the Committee decided to amend the article so that it only applies to the host nation, and not the entire zone.