AFC President Invites Members To Be Patient In Facing The Financial Impact Of The Pandemic

AFC President Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - President of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa invited member associations to be patient in facing the financial impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has on the continuity of football in Asia.

This was conveyed by Sheikh Salman at the AFC congress while stating that his party would continue to try to renegotiate existing and future commercial contracts.

"While we are preparing to enter the end of 2020, there are still some difficult decisions to take," the Bahraini man said.

"There is still financial instability due to COVID-19 and we continue to work hard so that the AFC's finances remain safe to realize our vision of football in Asia," he added.

The AFC president since 2013 also invited members to understand that hard work is needed to protect the AFC's finances and budget which continues to be carried out with the help of the financial committee and executive committee.

"When that is resolved, we will all be in a strong position to assist and support the members," he said.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic broke out in mid-February, the AFC has been forced to cancel a number of tournaments, leaving only the Asian Champions League which has just begun to continue centrally in Qatar.

The second caste Asian club competition, the AFC Cup, was also halted along with several youth tournaments as well as the futsal championship having to be postponed to 2021, as well as the 2022 Asian zone World Cup qualification which had to be postponed.

As a result, AFC had to renegotiate a number of commercial contracts that were in effect with SportFive, especially since Football Marketing Asia was decided to have new partner rights which will be in effect starting 2021.