Team Herald
PANJIM: The Asian Football Confederation Extraordinary Congress lasted just 27 minutes after the members rejected their agenda in protest at FIFA barring Qatar’s Saoud A Aziz Al-Mohannadi from elections.
The AFC delegates voted 42-1 against adopting the agenda for their extraordinary congress, and electing the three new members to the FIFA Council, halting the meeting after just 20 minutes, held at a Hotel in Bambolim, on Tuesday.
The AFC congress stood strong for Al-Mohannadi, vice-president of the Qatar Football Association, as scandal-plagued FIFA’s ethics committee last month recommended a two-and-a-half-year ban for the Qatari for refusing to cooperate with a corruption investigation.
Mohannadi however denied any wrongdoing and had initially been cleared to stand, before the AFC announced late on Sunday that he’d been ruled out of the process by FIFA.
“This has been an eventful morning – and an eventful few weeks,” said AFC president Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa,
“But the congress has spoken with one voice and that has been clear for us all to see.”
“Today the AFC and Asian football has shown solidarity and unity. The message has been clear to everyone both inside and outside Asia,” said Sheikh Salman, according to a AFC statement.
“Football in Asia is united and that is down to you –the members –and I thank you for sending out such a strong message that we stand united,” he said.
According to officials, it will be months before another congress is held, with the AFC needing to give at least 30 days’ notice and FIFA also taking up to four months to approve candidates.
AFC general secretary Windsor John said it “was a clear message with one voice”.
“The executive committee just decided that we will convene a new extraordinary congress after we have checked all the timelines with FIFA and with our statutes,” he said.
The FIFA boss who watched as Asian Football Confederation (AFC) delegates voted against the adapting the agenda said, “It’s what democracy is about. We are going through a reform process in FIFA. The confederations are going through a reform process as well,” Infantino said.
“This takes discussions, this takes time, this takes meetings, this takes postponements of meetings as well. This is simply part of a normal process that football is going through these days,” he added
“In that point of view whatever can contribute to make football progress, be it at FIFA level, confederation level, at AFC, is always welcome,” he said
Infantino said the incomplete FIFA Council would go ahead with its first meeting next month as planned, adding that he was unfazed by a delay in filling all the seats.
“FIFA has a history of 112 years. A few months more or a few months less will not make a difference in the great scheme of things but we will do things right,” he said.
