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AFC PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE<br />
Shaikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa<br />
AFC President<br />
Dear friends,<br />
Global football has seen some turbulent times recently. However, the beautiful game<br />
goes on, and since the latest edition of AFC Quarterly we have witnessed some exciting<br />
matches, in both national team and club competitions.<br />
Once again Asia’s two premier club competitions, the AFC Champions League and<br />
AFC Cup, have shone. The continent is now looking forward to the quarter-finals kicking<br />
off in August, with Asia’s best clubs battling it out to be crowned champions. The AFC<br />
Champions League produced some surprises, as usual, with Naft Tehran, a newcomer<br />
in the competition, qualifying to the quarter-finals. Debutants FC Istiklol from Dushanbe,<br />
Tajikistan, also made history by getting through to the knockout stage of the AFC Cup.<br />
On the national team competition side, the draw for the FIFA World Cup 2018 and AFC<br />
Asian Cup 2019 Preliminary Joint Qualification Round Two was held in mid-April in Kuala<br />
Lumpur. The matches started in mid-June, with the finals in Russia and the UAE as the<br />
competing teams’ targets. There was plenty of excitement already in the round two<br />
opening matches, with close-fought thrillers such as Saudi Arabia edging Palestine 3-2<br />
with a stoppage-time strike, and surprises such as Guam racing to the top of their group<br />
with two wins in two.<br />
In addition to the AFC national team and club competitions, Asian teams have been in<br />
action at FIFA tournaments in Canada and New Zealand. Performances at the FIFA U-20<br />
World Cup might have been a disappointment for some of our teams but Uzbekistan<br />
made sure that at least one Asian team made it to the last eight.<br />
The FIFA Women’s World Cup is in full swing with great displays from the Asian teams.<br />
Australia, China, Japan and Korea Republic all made it through to the knockout phase and<br />
Thailand performed admirably on their first appearance on the big stage.<br />
Finally, off the field, the AFC held its 26th Ordinary Congress in Bahrain at the end of April.<br />
Key Asian representatives were elected by the AFC Congress to chart the course for<br />
football to flourish on the continent and internationally. I look forward to working with the<br />
new Executive Committee, and with all the Member Associations, to help Asian football<br />
reach its potential both here and on the world stage.<br />
Together we will do it.<br />
Shaikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa <br />
AFC President<br />
NIKE.COM<br />
AFC QUARTERLY 5
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