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The All India Football Federation (AIFF) president Praful Patel was elected uncontested as Asian Football Confederation’s vice president of the SAFF Region at the AFC Congress held in Bahrain on Thursday.
The development gives India a significant representation in the AFC and Patel thanked all Member Associations for finding him ‘competent enough’.
“First of all I need to thank all for finding me competent enough. Indian Football is undergoing a transition and it feels nice that our development progress has rung bells all over the Continent. I take this as a complement for Indian Football,” he told the-aiff.com.
“This is a huge responsibility. I would not only be representing my own Country but the entire SAFF Region. I stay confident of receiving support from all stakeholders for rapid progress of Football in the region,” he added.
Shaikh Salman re-elected AFC president; Blatter praises Asian soccer
Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim al Khalifa of Bahrain was re-elected unopposed as the president of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) at the confederation's congress.
Salman, 49, will serve a four-year term and keeps his seat on the executive committee of FIFA, world soccer's governing body, as the AFC president.
Blatter praises Asian soccer for moving out of murky waters
FIFA president Sepp Blatter praised the president of the Asian Football Confederation Shaikh Salman of Bahrain for ‘cleaning up’ the confederation in a speech to delegates at the AFC's congress.
Blatter, 79, who is seeking a fifth term as FIFA president in next month's election, gave an uncharacteristically low-key speech and again used his favourite shipping analogy to describe the progress made by the confederation since former AFC president Mohamed Bin Hammam was banned for life two years ago.
Bin Hammam was kicked out of soccer for his part in a bribery scandal in 2011 and was replaced in 2013 by Shaikh Salman, who was re-elected as AFC president unopposed later on Thursday.
Blatter told delegates from the 47 Asian nations that Salman had shown "a remarkable sense of organisation and diplomacy to bring back the boat of the AFC that at certain times has been in waters not so very clear and not so very clean."
Blatter, addressing Salman, who is supporting Blatter in his quest to be re-elected FIFA president next month, continued: "You have brought back this boat since 2013 and it is only justice when this congress later on will re-elect you as leader of the AFC. You merit a big compliment, Shaikh Salman."