POSTED ON 2/26/10 | KUALA LUMPUR -- The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has extended its association with Connor Sport Court International, a United States manufacturer of sports surfaces including specialized international standard futsal courts. Official AFC Futsal Championships will be played on Sport Court surfaces through the length of the agreement.
"It is our pleasure to announce the extension of our partnership with Sport Court. They are a part of our AFC family and for years have been supporting the AFC’s efforts to increase the profile of our futsal championships, and develop and promote futsal in the region", said AFC President Mohammad Bin Hammam.
“The AFC is the biggest and most important football organization in the world to officially endorse a surface for futsal. We are very happy to support their efforts to develop futsal throughout Asia, and thrilled that they have again chosen Sport Court,” said Ron Cerny, President and CEO of the Salt Lake City-based manufacturer.
"Futsal is one of the key elements of Vision Asia and one of the first lines of Education. We will never neglect it," said AFC Deputy General Secretary Hasan Al Sabah. The Deputy General Secretary urged all AFC’s Member Associations to emulate the examples of Brazil and Spain and hone their overall football skills through futsal. “That's why their players have such fantastic skills. In fact, training for football can be much more effective if the players start playing futsal and beach soccer at a young age and then move to football. This is very important to further develop their individual skills and reaction." said Al Sabah.
In addition to conducting all its futsal championships on Sport Court floors, the AFC will donate one court each year to a selected Member Association working to develop futsal.
Futsal is the version of indoor or limited space football, and is one of the world’s fastest growing sports. The AFC has endorsed Sport Court surfaces for both indoor and outdoor futsal.
About the AFC
Formed in 1954, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is the governing body of Asian football and is in charge of regulating the game, drafting new laws to improve the sport, implementing the law, boosting grassroots and youth football, and conducting major competitions.
AFC is one of the six FIFA Confederations. The 46 AFC Member Associations represent more than half of the world’s population.
Its headquarters is in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The current President of AFC is Mohamed Bin Hammam, who is from Qatar.
For more information about the AFC contact:
Mr. Sean Tohidi, AFC Communications and Media Department Director
tel: +60 3 8994 3388
www.the-afc.com
