AFC President praises the way to develop Uzbek football

AFC President Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa has visited the Uzbekistan Football Federation (UFF) and held meetings with the newly elected President Umid Akhmatdjanov in the capital of Uzbekistan.

During his visit, the AFC President also met the Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan H.E. Abdulla Aripov, the Minister of Sports and Culture H.E. Rustam Kurbanov, and attended the final of the Uzbekistan Cup between Lokomotiv Tashkent and Bunyodkor, which the former won 1-0.

Shaikh Salman said: “Uzbekistan is not only a key Member Association of the Central Asian region but they are also amongst the elites of Asian football.

“The progress Uzbekistan have made despite being amongst one of the youngest Member Associations of the AFC is remarkable and sooner or later we will definitely see Uzbekistan representing Asia in the FIFA World Cup.

“We are assured that the strong and active leadership of the current UFF President will drive you in the right direction.”

UFF President Akhmatdjanov expressed his delight with the AFC President’s visit.

“It is a great honour to receive the AFC President in Tashkent and his presence has provided us a great boost,” said Akhmatdjanov.

“It is great that the AFC President accepted our invitation and we get a chance to interact with him and share our future plans.

“There will be a lot of changes and we will improve in the coming days. Our Federation is committed to participating in all the events and competitions the AFC organises,” the UFF President added.