AFC and UEFA Presidents meet in Nyon

Aleksander Čeferin and Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, the UEFA and Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Presidents respectively, met yesterday in Nyon, Switzerland. The two Presidents discussed the ongoing co-operation between the two Confederations and how to deepen this further, in view of the strength of European football and the current rise of football across Asia.

The AFC President said: "I was delighted to have the opportunity to meet with the UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin once more and am appreciative of his and UEFA's hospitality in Nyon. It is important that the Confederations continue to work together for the benefit of world football and that they build their own strong bonds.

“The AFC is grateful for the support it receives from UEFA under the current Memorandum of Understanding and we look to build on that unity and solidarity in the years ahead.”

The UEFA President said: “It was a great pleasure to have hosted Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa at the House of European Football in Nyon for a very productive meeting”.

“UEFA is pleased with its cooperation with the AFC and we have made it clear that in future we will take our responsibility to develop football outside, as well as inside, Europe - in partnership with our sister Confederations. UEFA competitions are watched all over the world, and so can have a big impact on the growth of football in Asia. Developing Asian football further is a win-win for both Europe and Asia”.

The current agreement between the two organisations was signed in 2015 and lasts until 2019. Experts regularly travel between the two continents to exchange knowledge and information in many different areas, including coach education, competitions, youth and women’s football, refereeing, stadia, club licensing, governance and marketing.