Asian Football Confederation (AFC) President Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa concluded his visit to Uzbekistan where he held several high-level meetings with the Republic’s Prime Minister His Excellency (H.E.) Abdulla Aripov, Sports Development Minister H.E. Adham Ikramov and Uzbekistan Football Association (UFA) President Abdusalom Azizov.

The AFC President, in a meeting with the Prime Minister, said: “Uzbekistan is one of the elite members of Asian football and we are very happy with their contributions to the game, most notably in Central Asia.”

“Despite being one of the younger Member Associations (MAs) of the Confederation, they are amongst the giants of football with a bright future and great potential, and I am almost certain that we will be seeing Uzbekistan as one of the hubs for international football competitions in the near future.

“I am pleased to know that the Uzbekistan government is keen to achieve its Vision and Mission to develop sports and in particular football among the youth,” added Shaikh Salman.

The Prime Minister of Uzbekistan, H.E. Abdulla Aripov expressed his happiness to receive the AFC President and assured him of the organisational standards by the UFA in staging a memorable AFC U23 Asian Cup Uzbekistan 2022™, which is scheduled to be held in the host cities of Tashkent and Karshi from June 1 to 19.

“We are honoured to receive the AFC President in Tashkent as we need the full support from the AFC to achieve our Vision and Mission. We also want to assure that Uzbekistan has full confidence and support in the reforms of the AFC under your leadership,” said H.E. Abdulla Aripov.

“We discussed a lot regarding the development of the game here and we will definitely be following his guidance to further develop and strengthen the sport.”

“Uzbekistan’s President, HE Shavkat Mirziyoyev signed the national decree on the development of the game after your visit in 2019. Since then, the UFA has done a tremendous job in achieving its Vision and Mission to raise the national standards of the game,” he added.

The AFC President expressed his gratitude to the government officials for their support in developing football in Uzbekistan and expressed his confidence in further deepening the spirit of co-operation between the AFC and Uzbekistan.

Subsequently, in his meeting with UFA President Abdusalom Azizov, Shaikh Salman said: “I’m happy to visit and meet you despite the challenges we have faced. We have seen the world struggling across all industries during these tough times.

“But I would like to congratulate and thank the UFA for carrying out all its football activities and hosting the AFC club and national team competitions during this period.”Shaikh Salman also noted the impressive infrastructure investment undertaken in Uzbekistan as well as the UFA’s commitment towards capacity and capability building in its bid to host even bigger international events and competitionsAt the invitation of the UFA President,

Shaikh Salman also visited the UFA National Team Training Centre to observe the construction and renovation process and met with the UFA team tasked with managing the state-of-the-art facility.“Football is a long-term investment”, he said. “Building a solid base would not suffice. It requires patience and time because it takes time to achieve results, and it will go through periods of highs and lows.“I must admit that I was impressed by the facilities managed by the UFA, and I believe that it will be one of the best training bases in the region. At the same time, the AFC is ever ready to assist where possible, through technical support and advice.The UFA President also praised the reforms under the leadership of the AFC President and thanked Shaikh Salman for his continued support.“A new decree was signed by the Honorable President of the Republic of Uzbekistan after your visit in 2019,” he said.“It is such a powerful document that identified the milestones to achieve towards our Vision and Mission.

We have established an educational centre for retired football players, set up VAR in the Superleague, hired experienced top specialists from abroad for our technical development projects and mainly re-established our good relationship with the AFC and FIFA”.The UFA President also echoed the sentiments of Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov, underlining the willingness of the UFA to work with the AFC to successfully deliver its major events and competitions.