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The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has revealed an initiative designed to make it one of the biggest confederations in the world, leading to the production of a FIFA World Cup winner in the next 11 years.
The AFC Technical Committee aims to raise the technical standards within the Confederation to the highest level in order to win FIFA competitions and increase participation and involvement at the grassroots. Members have decided to focus their energy on the five key areas of grassroots development, youth development, coach education development, the 'Victory 2022' project for national teams and restructuring the organisation. Victory 2022 aims to produce an Asian World Cup champion for Qatar's staging of the 2022 tournament by supporting the preparations of national teams in various aspects. The Technical Committee will identify the criteria to select the teams who will receive this support.
According to the organisation's official website AFC Acting President Zhang Jilong stated "we need more skills, knowledge and technical expertise to boost football in the continent. We need more talented experts for our future.
"The committee members have a huge responsibility on their shoulders and I am sure you understand the importance and work towards achieving the common goal of making Asian football one of the best in the world."
In other news, the AFC President's Travelling Fellowship Programme for Football Medicine has been launched following the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with three Centres of Sports Medicine Excellence. The Aspetar ï¾ Qatar Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Hospital in Doha; the National Institute of Sports Malaysia (ISN) in Kuala Lumpur and Mahidol University in Bangkok have all signed up to the initiative which aims to provide high-level healthcare services to footballers across Asia.
Four medical professionals will be attached to each sports medicine centre for a week and will return to their countries after attending the AFC Elite Football Medicine Seminar, an annual event held in Kuala Lumpur.
Aspetar Director General Dr Mohd Maadheed explained "this program is the first of its kind and the AFC Medical Committee is to be commended for having developed the Fellowship Programme. Aspetar is open to all sports and all athletes from around the world, so we are sure that we will be able to share knowledge and experience with the travelling fellows."

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