Uzbekistan enjoys a status as one of Asia’s strongest national teams. However, Uzbekistan Football Federation (UFF) General Secretary Sardor Rakhmatullaev said there is still much to improve upon.

"Overall, the level of football in Uzbekistan is quite high," Rakhmatullaev said in an interview with AFC on Tuesday. "But there are problems in terms of infrastructure.

"There are structural issues within Uzbekistan football and that is what we have to change.

"Also, Vision Asia provides lots of help with coach education, referee education, grassroots and youth and we want to take advantage of this knowledge so we can get even better."

Rakhmatullaev led an eight-member UFF delegation to AFC House for a two-day workshop from August 12-13 to discuss the initial assessment of Vision Uzbekistan, which is under the AFC’s Vision Asia project.

During the workshop, the AFC Vision Asia team, led by Brendan Menton, will review the status of administration, clubs & competitions, grassroots & youth, coach education and referee development in Uzbekistan.

The ultimate aim of the workshop is to finalise a draft Strategic Development Plan for Uzbekistan.

"The priority for us is to establish a foundation to develop Uzbekistan football at all levels, especially grassroots and youth development," said Rakhmatullaev.

He said football in the country receives solid support at governmental level.

"Football is the number one sport in Uzbekistan and the government pays a lot of attention to it," he said. "Football is very important to the people of Uzbekistan."