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FIFA boss: Asia must forge its own program
(AP)
Updated: 2006-04-01 19:51
DHAKA, Bangladesh -- FIFA president Sepp Blatter on Saturday said Asia's
soccer governing bodies must come up with their own programs to develop the game
in their region.
"FIFA is always ready to help, but initiatives must
come from national associations to improve," said Blatter, who is in Bangladesh
for the opening ceremony of the inaugural AFC Challenge Cup soccer tournament.
"Local football federations need to develop their own programs at home _
step by step," he said, adding that soccer's world governing body, FIFA, as well
as the Asian Football Confederation, was already offering assistance under
various projects including the Goal Program and Vision Asia.
Blatter
formally inaugurated the Bangladesh Football Federation's new headquarters,
built with FIFA assistance, in downtown Dhaka on Saturday.
He also
donated money from a FIFA tsunami fund to build soccer training centers in the
coastal areas of Cox's Bazar and Barisal. The fund was set up to help
tsunami-hit Asian nations.
Later Saturday, Blatter, along with AFC
president Mohamed bin Hammam, was to attend the opening ceremony of the
Challenge Cup, which features 16 emerging Asian soccer nations.
"I
foresee the Challenge Cup having lots of success," Blatter said.
The
tournament, planned for every two years, hopes to give low-ranking Asian nations
a chance to compete for an international trophy.
This year's tournament
includes teams from Afghanistan, Taiwan, the Philippines, India, Guam,
Bangladesh, Cambodia, Palestine, Brunei, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Macau,
Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan and Tajikistan.
FIFA's Goal Program aims to develop
soccer infrastructure in developing countries, while Vision Asia is an AFC
program designed to improve the standard of Asian soccer at all levels,
including administration and management.
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