Asian congress scrapped after 20 minutes in FIFA protest

An Asian football congress was scrapped after just 20 minutes yesterday as members rejected its agenda in protest at FIFA barring a candidate from elections to its new council

Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim

Panaji: An Asian football congress was scrapped after just 20 minutes yesterday as members rejected its agenda in protest at FIFA barring a candidate from elections to its new council. Asian Football Confederation (AFC) delegates flew from all over the region here to elect three new members to the FIFA Council, only for the meeting to be declared closed when it had barely got underway.

The 42-1 vote against adopting the extraordinary congress' agenda will be seen as a rebuke to the world body's president Gianni Infantino, who was among those present at the short-lived gathering.

"This has been an eventful morning -- and an eventful few weeks," said AFC president Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa, who stood against Infantino in FIFA polls in February. "But the congress has spoken with one voice and that has been clear for us all to see. FIFA president, Gianni Infantino, I am not sure if you have been at a shorter congress but I think you can see the strength of opinion in the room."

Various delegates said the agenda was rejected because a senior official from Qatar had been barred from standing for the FIFA Council.

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