Two recent incidents involving the refusal of Arab teams to play their Palestinian counterparts on Palestinian soil highlight the Asian Football Confederationâs (AFC) willingness to play politics at the Palestiniansâ expense at times with the connivance of the Palestine Authority headed by President Mahmoud Abbas. The incidents further spotlight the consequences of the incestuous relationship …
âWe may not always agree; we are 47 members in a very diverse continent. But together we are strong,” AFC President Salman Bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa says
Pressure is building on Asian Football Confederation president and world soccer body FIFA presidential candidate Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa to respond with chapter and verse to allegations that he played a role in the detention and abuse of athletes during the 2011 popular uprising in his native Bahrain. The revolt was brutally squashed …
In recent statements, Bahraini football players sought to absolve Asian Football Confederation (AFC) president and world football body FIFA presidential candidate Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa, who is a member of Bahrainâs ruling family, of any moral or direct responsibility for the arrest, dismissal, and abuse of hundreds of sports executives and athletes accused …
The UAE team failed to score any goals and only played defence
Assertions by Asian Football Confederation (AFC) President Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa, a candidate for the presidency of world football body FIFA, that he was not involved in the arrest and abuse of sports executives and athletes in his native Bahrain in 2011 raise more questions than answers. Sheikh Salmanâs rise in world football governance, …
According to AFCâs decision, Al-Ahliâs qualification to the Champions League has become a reality even though their officials said they will appeal based on what they called a clear administrative mistake.
Asian Football Confederation (AFC) President Sheikh Salman Bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifaâs candidacy for the presidency of world football body FIFA is likely to serve as a litmus test for newly introduced integrity checks on the groupâs executives. Sheikh Salman was a former football player and consistently refused, like other members of his ruling family, to respond …
By James M. Dorsey Transparency appears nowhere on the radar of Asian football governors, as global football reels from the worst crisis in the sport’s history. That was evident in a terse statement issued by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) announcing the resignation of its suspended general secretary, Dato Alex Soosay. The statement made no …
By James M. Dorsey FIFA Vice President and Asian Football Confederation (AFC) executive committee member Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein, in an uncommon display of elegance and magnanimity in the rarefied world of world soccer as well as of Middle Eastern and North African leaders, has conceded defeat in a battle that is symptomatic of …
By James M. Dorsey A decision by European football body UEFA granting Gibraltar the right of membership potentially opens the door to Kurdistan to seek association with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in a move that would acknowledge demands for increased autonomy and the possible shifting of national borders in the Middle East as a …
