Uzbekistan Football Federation (UFF) President Mirabror Usmanov welcomed Uzbekistan’s participation in Vision Asia and the opportunity it provide to accelerate football development in Uzbekistan.

He thanked the AFC President, Mohamed bin Hammam, for including Uzbekistan in the project and for his vision for football development in Asia.

Brendan Menton, AFC’s Director of Vision Asia, stated that AFC was aware of the high standard of football in Uzbekistan, but believed that the Vision Asia project would bring many benefits. The AFC Vision Asia team would work in partnership with UFF to achieve the Vision Asia goals.

The opening ceremony was also attended by the FIFA Development Officer and AFC Vice-President, Manilal Fernando, FIFA Development Division’s Ms Eva Pasquier and UFF’s first Vice-President and AFC Executive Committee member Bakhtier Rakhimov.

The AFC Vision Asia team will prepare a draft plan for football development for discussion and agreement with UFF after this four-day assessment visit.