DILI (22 March 2012) – The AFC Women’s Committee has hailed the International Football Association Board (IFAB)’s unanimous endorsement of the use of headscarves in women’s matches.
In the meeting chaired by AFC Vice-President Moya Dodd, the members were unanimous in thanking Asia’s FIFA Executive Committee members, especially FIFA Vice-President HRH Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein, for their support to the issue.
“The IFAB endorsement is an enormous step forward. Now, the IFAB will do safety testing on designs of velcro and its release. I hope the IFAB will accelerate the safety testing before making the final ratification on 2 July 2012,” said Dodd.
“The process of women footballers wearing the headscarf is not quite complete but a lot of progress has been made since the committee’s last meeting.”
AFC Acting President Zhang Jilong, at the outset, said women’s football is an important part of AFC.
“We are proud to have Japan as the FIFA Women’s World Cup champions. Their victory at the global stage last year showed a bright image of Asian football,” he said.
“I would like this committee to work towards maintaining this reputation and focus on the development of the women’s game in the continent.”
The members also discussed future women’s competitions and the marketing of women’s football, including increasing the commercial value of AFC’s women’s competitions.
The committee also approved the age regulation for the AFC U-16 Women’s Championship and the women’s competitions calendar for 2013, which includes the U-14 Girls Tournaments, AFC Women’s Asian Cup Round 1 and 2 qualifiers, the AFC U-19 Women’s Championship Finals (1-13 October) and AFC U-16 Women’s Championship Finals (7-17 November).
