Shaikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa of Bahrain was elected as the new President of AFC for the term 2013-2015 here in the capital of Malaysia on Thursday.
In the AFC Extraordinary Congress, Shaikh Salman secured 33 votes out of 46 votes (2/3rd majority) in the first round of ballot to defeat Dato’ Worawi Makudi of Thailand (seven votes) and the UAE’s Yusuf Yakoob Al Serkal (six votes).
Dr Hafez Al Medlej of Saudi Arabia had withdrawn from the contest on Wednesday.
Shaikh Salman also won the FIFA Executive Committee seat by defeating Hassan Al Thawadi of Qatar. He received 28 votes to 18 votes. The term of this seat is from 2013 until 2017.
Moya Dodd of Australia was re-elected unopposed as the AFC Vice-President (Female) for the term 2013 until 2015. Han Un-gyong (DPR Korea) and Susan Shalabi Molano (Palestine) were elected as AFC Executive Committee female members for the East and West respectively. Their terms will run from 2013-2015.
FIFA President after the AFC President election said: “I congratulate Shaikh Salman Bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa for his brilliant election to the Presidency of the Asian Football Confederation, as well as to the FIFA Executive Committee. One of the key missions he will have to ensure is that unity prevails within the AFC.
“Unity, as well as solidarity, are absolutely key and necessary pillars for any institution to build solid plans and structures for its future,” he added.
