Meeting under the chairmanship of Captain Saburo Kawabuchi, President of the Japan Football Association, the Professional Leagues Ad Hoc Committee of the Asian Football Confederation has further considered the criteria required for re-launching professional leagues and clubs across the Asian continent. The initial study is focusing on evaluating twenty-two countries and the current league and club infrastructure, with a view for at last ten countries to re-launch their leagues during the period of 2009-2012, with the aim to have met all the minimum requirements by 2012. A key objective is to ensure commercial success through having a transparent business infrastructure in each national league.
“We are responsible to fans to deliver a higher standard of football in Asia. There is no reason why we cannot be as good as Europe. We have as strong economies in Asia. We have the human resources and the talent. And we have the ambition. We aim to rebuild our football in the right way, and leagues and clubs are the best place to start,” AFC President, Mohamed Bin Hammam told AFCMedia.
“We are responsible to fans to deliver a higher standard of football in Asia. There is no reason why we cannot be as good as Europe. We have as strong economies in Asia. We have the human resources and the talent. And we have the ambition. We aim to rebuild our football in the right way, and leagues and clubs are the best place to start,” AFC President, Mohamed Bin Hammam told AFCMedia.