Bin Hammam predicts Asian football boom

Asian Football Confederation President Mohamed Bin Hammam predicts a bright future for the sport in the region as western investors turn their attention to Asian clubs featuring some of the world’s best players.

“No, I’m not mad,” Hammam told a packed auditorium at the first Soccerex Asia Forum in Singapore today. “I am optimistic that European investors will invest in Asian clubs and I want to see the best players coming to Asia because we can pay the same salaries ands benefits as Europe.”

Bin Hammam underscored the size of the task facing Asian football as it strives to professionalise and compete with the best in the world: at present the region boast less than 150 fully professional clubs.

“We want to see that number rise to 700 or 800,” he said.

Seamus O’Brien, CEO of World Sports Group, later supported the President’s view of the future. O’Brien, an expert in Asian sports marketing with more than 20 years experience in the region, said he is sure that the rise of Asia as a global force in club football is an ‘economic inevitability’ fuelled by the booming economies of many Asian states.

Turning his attention to the World Cup, Bin Hammam, a member of FIFA’s executive committee described South Africa 2010 as a “fantastic” tournament: “There had been a lot of people who doubted the ability of South Africa to host the event. But it was safe and the people of South Africa did extraordinary work.

“The organisation was excellent, the stadia were excellent and I don’t think any other country could have done a better job. A lot of credit must go to FIFA President Sepp Blatter who pushed for this while a lot of us doubted.”

Bin Hammam, who opposed FIFA’s decision to decide on the host of the next two World Cups at the same meeting in December, believes that selecting an Asian host would help boost the game throughout the region.

“Each of the bids has strengths and weaknesses and every bid has its sympathisers (supporters within FIFA),” he added. “It is up to the bidding nation to convince the voters that they are better than the others. But it is clear that the harder they work the better their chance.”

Source: SoccerExBusiness Daily