DILI (6 Jan 2011) – Datuk Worawi Makudi of Thailand has won a seat on the FIFA Executive Committee while HRH Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah of Malaysia was elected as one of four AFC Vice Presidents following the 24th AFC Congress today.
There were two seats up for grabs with Datuk Worawi picking up 24 out of 45 votes to retain his seat on FIFA’s decision-making body as Manilai Fernando of Sri Lanka won 23 votes. Victory was by a simple majority.
There were four candidates in total including Japan’s Kohzo Tashima and China’s Zhang Jilong. Japan’s Junji Ogura was previously on the FIFA EXCO but was not eligible because he had reached the age of 70.
In the meantime, Malaysia’s HRH Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah, Ganesh Thapa of Nepal and Zhang Jilong of China, have won their respective elections for AFC Vice Presidents.
Abdullah was unopposed in the ASEAN vote while Thapa, an AFC Exco Member, beat Iran’s Ali Saeed Loo 25-20 in the South & Central Asian Zone in the only vote to take place for the AFC Vice Presidents positions.
Zhang saw all his opponents withdraw on the day in the East Asian Zone. Zhang was supposed to be competing against Japan’s Kohzo Tashima and Richard Lai of Guam, but both withdrew from the race.
On the other hand, Mohamed Hammam was confirmed as AFC President for a third term after being elected unopposed at the 24th AFC Congress. Hammam, who became AFC President in 2002, was the only candidate in the election and his victory was confirmed by acclamation from the delegates representing the AFC’s 46 Member Association.
“My dear family, once again I thank you for your support,” said Hammam in his acceptance speech. “I swear to God that your interests will be my priority in all my acts during the next four years. You can be rest assured of that.”
Hammam’s final term as AFC President will run from 2011 to 2015.
AFC’S FOUR REPRESENTATIVES ON THE FIFA EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein (FIFA Vice President, Jordan)
Mohamed Bin Hammam (Qatar)
Manilal Fernando (Sri Lanka)
Worawi Makudi (Thailand)
