CANBERRA, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Football Federation Australia (FFA) has joined with all members of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Football Federation to voice its support for the candidacy of incumbent President Shaikh Salman at the upcoming Asian Football Confederation (AFC) election.
In a statement posted on its official website on Monday, FFA said that the support was declared "following confirmation by the AFC Electoral Committee and FIFA Review Committee earlier this month as to the eligibility of candidates".
Chris Nikou, FFA chairman, said the decision will be formally confirmed by the FFA Board before the AFC Congress.
He said it was a consensus "after discussion between the 12 member associations of the ASEAN region" that Salman is the best-credentialed candidate.
"Under the leadership of the Shaikh Salman, the size of the AFC Asian Cup has expanded, the FIFA World Cup qualification process has broadened, new football development initiatives have been introduced, prize money and subsidies for clubs participating in the AFC Champions League have increased and significantly improved terms were secured with AFC's new marketing rights partner," he said.
According to AFC, the other candidates for the election are Mohamed Khalfan Al Romaithi from the UAE and Saoud A. Aziz A Al-Mohannadi from Qatar.
The 29th AFC Congress will be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on April 6.
Shaikh Salman took over as the 10th president of the AFC in May 2013. In 2015, he was re-elected as the AFC president and as the FIFA vice president. In 2018, Salman was appointed as the FIFA senior vice president.
