AFC Member Associations and Regional Associations Presidents' and General Secretaries Conference 2025 concludes

2025-10-19
21:48:30

The AFC Member Associations and Regional Associations Presidents' and General Secretaries Conference 2025 concluded today, Sunday.

The conference was held over three days in Riyadh and hosted by the Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF), as it was attended by AFC President His Excellency Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa; SAFF President and FIFA Council Member Yasser bin Hassan Al-Mishal; FIFA Secretary General Mattias Grafström; and a host of prominent global sports figures.

The third and final day opened with a presentation on the tactical aspects that make football a business based on innovation and management, delivered by Football Federation Australia CEO and Interim General Secretary Heather Garriock, Regis Younan, Global Vice President of the Organizing Platform (Gloat), then gave a presentation on how artificial intelligence can be used to advance football.

The sessions concluded with a speech by Patrick Knight, Chief Strategy Officer at City Football Group, who presented a comprehensive overview of the group's global journey and its remarkable development into an integrated football ecosystem operating in unique global harmony.

His Excellency Shaikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa delivered the closing remarks, praising the rich sessions of the conference. He emphasized that the conference provided the AFC with a great opportunity to reflect on all the successes achieved over the past year, emphasizing the importance of continuing constructive discussions that shape the future of Asian football.

For his part, the President of the Saudi Arabian Football Federation and a member of the FIFA Council thanked all the speakers for the valuable information and knowledge they provided at the conference. He expressed his pleasure at hosting this conference for the second time, following the successful hosting in 2022, and emphasized that the Saudi Arabian Football Federation is dedicating all its capabilities to serving Asian football.

The Saudi Arabian Football Federation hosted several important Asian events over the past week, starting with a meeting of the Asian Football Confederation's Development and Social Responsibility Committees. It also hosted the Asian Dream Foundation Conference and the fourth meeting of the Asian Dream Foundation Council. Meanwhile, the King Fahd Cultural Center in Riyadh hosted the 29th Asian Football Confederation Awards ceremony, as well as the Asian Federation Presidents and Secretaries Conference, which concluded today.