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Asia finally heals rift with FIFA after rocky year |
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May
19, 2000
KUALA LUMPUR, MAY 18 (AP) - After a year of threats, bickering and walkouts, Asian soccer chiefs Thursday mended fences with FIFA and pledged to forge stronger ties with the sport's international governing body.
"FIFA is an institution that Asia has respected before and will continue to respect and fully support into the future," said Sultan Ahmad Shah, president of the Asian Football Confederation.
Dozens of AFC officials walked out of a FIFA congress in Los Angeles last July, demanding more berths in the World Cup 2002 finals, which will be co-hosted by Japan and South Korea.
The AFC threatened to boycott the showcase tournament unless FIFA granted Asian teams five, instead of four, spots in the final rounds of the competition, to be held in Asia for the first time.
The soccer bodies finally reached a compromise months later by agreeing to allow an additional team from Asia the chance to reach the finals through qualifying.
On Thursday, Sultan Ahmad said in a keynote speech at the AFC's 19th Congress in Kuala Lumpur that the region's soccer associations cherished their relationship with FIFA.
"Our drastic actions were not meant as any disrespect to FIFA," he said. "It is imperative for FIFA to be fully supported by all its confederations to meet the many challenges that football unveils."
But he hinted that Asia still sought greater respect from FIFA. "We look forward to a fair deal for the World Cup 2006," Ahmad said.
The walkout last July was viewed as the first major challenge in FIFA President Sepp Blatter's then year-old presidency. Blatter described himself as "astounded and disappointed."
On Thursday, Blatter said he was pleased with Ahmad's speech and believed that Asian soccer would make great strides.
"Demonstrate on the playing field that you deserve more than you have been given now," Blatter told over a hundred Asian soccer delegates who attended the AFC congress.
"It is necessary in our disturbed times that the big family of football be united," he said.
The AFC was founded in Manila during the second Asian Games in 1954 to promote the growth of soccer in Asia.
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