JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia: All India Football Federation senior vice president Subrata Dutta was on Sunday elected deputy president for South Asian zone of the newly formed South West Asian Football Federation (SWAFF) during its general assembly in the Saudi capital.
The general assembly of the regional football body promoted and largely bankrolled by the Saudi government elected Dutta to the post for a four-year term. It comes as no surprise therefore that the SWAFF general assembly unanimously elected Adel Ezzat, president of the Saudi Football Federation, as its first president.
The general assembly also elected Mohammed Shawid, president of the Maldives Football Federation, as first deputy president; Dutta as deputy president for South Asian zone; and Abdullah Al-Jinaibi of the UAE as deputy president for West Asia.
The meeting also endorsed the election of the members of the executive committee including Mahfouza Akhtar of Bangladesh; Karma Chering Sherba of Nepal; Anora De Silva of Sri Lanka; Shaikh Ali Al Khalifa of Bahrain and Fahd Al-Hamlan of Kuwait.
“I believe my election as vice president of SWAFF will be good for Indian football. I am happy to be part of the SWAFF as vice president,” Dutta told PTI in New Delhi.
“The SWAFF has promised to give the AIFF $500,000 for the development of Indian football and India will be taking part in the SWAFF Cup and play against the likes of Saudi Arabia, UAE and Bahrain,” he added.
Dutta said Ezzat will visit India either on August 30 or 31 to meet his AIFF counterpart Praful Patel and find out how SWAFF can help the country in the development of the sport.
He said there is a high possibility of India playing Saudi Arabia in a football friendly in mid November ahead of the Asian Cup in January next year.
The stated agenda of the new body is to work with partners, governments, federations and other interested parties in the region to establish new football facilities, academies, and competitions, which will be developed in harmony and in collaboration with “FIFA, AFC, and Football Federations within South and West Asia, and within existing football structures, schedules and commitments”.
PR optics notwithstanding, however, there is no getting away from the fact that the Saudi-led move is also a consequence of the ongoing political tussle in the Gulf region between the two big powers Saudi Arabia and Iran, with the collateral damage/fallout being the tiny but wealthy emirate of Qatar.
The exclusion of West Asian heavyweights like Qatar and Jordan from this new federation is a clear indication of the political maneuverings at play.
Having said that, it is worth noting that SWAFF has got the necessary clearances from the Asian Football Confederation, the regional governing body. AFC president Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa had met with Ezzat in June to discuss the formation of SWAFF.
“We had an open and honest discussion on the formation of SWAFF and I made it clear to Mr Ezzat that the AFC had no objection … as long as it remains as a football body outside of the AFC’s zonal structure,” Shaikh Salman, a member of the Bahraini royal family, was quoted as saying in a statement released by the AFC soon after the meeting.
“SWAFF can come into existence on the lines of the Arab Gulf Cup Football Federation or the Union of Arab Football Associations, which are not part of the AFC but serve the greater purpose of bringing together many Gulf and Arab countries for the sole purpose of football development.
“I am happy to note that Mr Ezzat agreed and confirmed that the establishment of SWAFF will not have any impact on the AFC’s five existing zones … and their current composition.”
For the record, there are 47 nations in the AFC, split into five regions — South, South-East, East, West and Central – primarily based on the continent’s geography.
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