KUALA LUMPUR: No problem this time for the Asian confederation as it finally seeks to resolve the confusion it caused itself over elections to the governing council of world federation FIFA writes KEIR RADNEDGE.

Last autumn the AFC brought its own election congress to a quick halt after a FIFA review committee declared a Qatari cadidate ineligible. This left the AFC under-strength at two subsequent significant FIFA Council meetings.

A new election congress had been organised, shortly before FIFA Congress itself in Bahrain on May 8. This time all the AFC candidates are in the clear.

The AFC has seven seats, one of which must be occupied by a woman, on the FIFA Council. Current members are AFC president Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa (Bahrain), Kohzo Tashima (Japan) and Prince Abdullah Ibni Sultan Ahmad Shah (Malaysia).

The women’s slot candidates include a former FIFA Council member in Australia’s experienced Moya Dodd.

An AFC statement said:

FIFA’s Governance Committee has informed the Asian Football Confederation that, following eligibility checks, all the candidates vying for the vacant four AFC seats on the FIFA Council can be admitted to the election.
The candidates, who will contest three FIFA Council seats, are:
  • Zhang Jian (China PR),
  • Mong Gyu Chung (Korea Republic),
  • HE Sheikh Ahmad Fahad Al Ahmad Al Sabah (Kuwait),
  • Mariano V. Araneta Jr. (Philippines).
The candidates for the one female seat are:
  • Moya Dodd (Australia),
  • Mahfuza Akhter Kiron (Bangladesh),
  • Han Un Gyong (DPR Korea),
  • Susan Shalabi Molano (Palestine).                                                .
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