AFC President Praises Qatar's Efforts to Ensure Successful AFC Champions League

Kuala Lumpur, November 25 (QNA) - President of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa praised the efforts exerted by the State of Qatar in order to deliver a successful 2020 AFC Champions League. Chairing the AFC Executive Committees online meeting on Wednesday, the AFC President extended thanks to Qatar Football Association, the Qatari authorities and the medical professionals and front liners, for their outstanding contribution, stressing that these combined efforts ensured the AFCs successful completion of the West Zone matches and now their continued assistance is on show in the East Zone competition. "We are now looking forward to an outstanding AFC Champions League final on December 19, 2020 and we extend our gratitude to the Member Associations and clubs for helping us reach this important milestone. It has been a significant achievement which has demonstrated the exceptional professionalism which exists in Asia," the AFC President said. Sheikh Salman underlined that the unity and transparency that have been so successfully evident in the last seven years will provide the solid foundations on which a brighter future can be built, expressing confidence that Asian football is on the right track to weather the current impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. "I am sure the AFC is on the right track and that if we continue to work together, we will be able to deliver our objectives and particularly our competitions. We have already shown that, in difficult circumstances, we are able to deliver our leading club competition the AFC Champions League," he stressed. Shaikh Salman added that the AFC will continue to work to deliver all the competitions in 2021 and with FIFA to guarantee the successful completion of the AFC Asian Qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and AFC Asian Cup China 2023 while keeping the health and well-being of all participants as a main priority. The AFC Executive Committee also received updates on the AFCs development program and commercial arrangements during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as recommendations by the many standing committees which held its meetings in the last month to ensure the continued growth and progress of the AFC and the Asian football family. The AFC Executive Committee also agreed that the 31st AFC Congress will be tentatively scheduled for October 2021. (QNA)