ABSTRACT
Introduction: ‘the future of football is Asia’ The governance of world football is no stranger to being subject to heated debates and controversies. The AFC is not unusual in this respect. It has engaged in speci c political problems associated with securing adequate representation on FIFA, what to do about Israel and the ‘two Chinas’, additional places at the World Cup Finals and the Presidency of FIFA itself (Weinberg, 2012). In the past decade numerous concerns have been raised about corruption, manipulation and bribery. AFC president Mohammed bin Hammam, the rst Arab to be elected to the highest o ce of football since its inception, was forced to step back from o ce in 2012. FIFA even banned the Qatari national for life from involvement in football because of alleged con icts of interest violating its certainly not overly strict code of ethics. His successor, Bahraini Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, has also been making headlines regarding the violation of human rights with the assistance of his o ce and consultants against players, administrators, referees and clubs who participated in the democracy protests in February 2011.
