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UFL CEO hosts media briefing about AFC meeting in Bangkok

UAE Football League (UFL) CEO Carlo Nohra met with UAE Arabic and English journalists last week to discuss the outcomes of an AFC CEO’s meeting which was held in Bangkok on March 19 in the presence of AFC President Mohammad Bin Hammam.

Mr Nohra explained that the meetings and workshops had been organized by the AFC for the CEOs of the region’s professional leagues to discuss the realities of professionalism in Asia. It was a forum for CEO’s to discuss the new AFC qualification criteria which have been revised from previous years, as well as the problems and obstacles they face which hinder their ability to achieve the requirements.

He confirmed that an AFC delegation will conduct an inspection visit of the UAE this October.

Mr Nohra said: “The AFC had requested the inspection visit take place in May, but we asked them to postpone it until October as the clubs will be busy in May with different competitions at the local, regional and continental levels.”

He added that there is some time until October and therefore the UFL and the clubs will be working together to ensure they are well prepared to receive the Asian delegation and to meet the specific AFC requirements that will be evaluated. The visiting delegation will then submit a report to the AFC Executive Committee after inspecting all UFL clubs following the visit.

“In light of these report, the Executive Committee will decide the number of clubs from each federation that will participate in the AFC Champions League for the 2012 competition,” he said.

The UFL CEO explained that our current issues in relation to meeting the AFC criteria were limited to the number of fans attending the games, the management of matches, media and clubs. He explained that the AFC criteria has now changed and the total checkpoints are 800 points, distributed over 11 criteria, and not 500 points as it was previously.

Mr Nohra explained to the media representatives in attendance the different criteria set by the AFC, which needs to be met by AFC professional leagues, including organization, technical criterion, fans attendance, marketing and promotion, economic indicator, the match operations, media, stadiums, clubs and infrastructure. He explained the number of points obtained by the UAE in accordance with these criteria following an AFC inspection visit in September 2009, detailing where and why we lost points in certain categories which saw the UAE  go from fifth to seventh place in the Asian professional leagues.

He went on to explain the steps that needed to be taken by the clubs and the UFL over the coming months to ensure we meet the requirements ahead of the AFC’s October inspection.

Finally, Mr Nohra explained that acquiring high points in the AFC criteria may not necessarily guarantee more seats in the Asian Champions League, as this depends on the rest of the leagues in West Asia, and the amount of points they get according to their response to the criteria.