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Reuters - The Asian Cup was
the major let-down of a year that dealt some harsh but important lessons to
the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), president Mohamed Bin Hammam told
Reuters on Thursday.
Hammam said July's Asian Cup, the continent's flagship event, fell short of
expectations as a spectacle despite a fairytale ending for Iraq, who
surprised everyone by becoming Asian champions for the first time.
However, he said 2007 also provided a number of highs, including a rousing
AFC Champions League final between Japan's Urawa Reds and Iran's
Sepahan, which he described as one of his best footballing moments.
Hammam also emerged as a president with global clout after he forced English
champions Manchester United to abandon a friendly match against a Malaysian
select team in Kuala Lumpur scheduled only two days before the Asian Cup
final.
"In terms of organisation, media attention, how it was received outside and
technical standards, the Asian Cup showed good progress, probably better
than in 2004 (in China)," Hammam told Reuters.
"But, was it what we were looking for? No, it was far away from what we
believe a good Asian Cup should be. And we will make sure we improve for the
future."
BESET BY PROBLEMS
The Asian Cup was beset by problems from the time AFC announced three years
prior that the 2007 edition would be held in four countries -- Indonesia,
Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam.
In the run-up to the finals,
AFC faced numerous challenges, such as being forced to prod countries who
failed to promote the event, juggling different national associations with
their own agendas and accommodating competing countries that refused to play
at certain venues.
With the exception of Indonesia, attendances were poor.
However, Hammam is confident the 2011 finals in Qatar will be a resounding
success with AFC focusing on encouraging fans to travel to the Gulf to
support their teams.
Hammam, who secured another four-year term as president in 2007, hailed the
AFC Champions League final as a success, with 60,000 fans in Saitama roaring
Urawa Reds to a 3-1 aggregate victory over Sepahan.
"To me, that was almost perfect. The football was very good, there was a
great crowd, the organisation was excellent and the spirit of the game was
alive," Hammam said.
"That was as good as it could get anywhere in the world and, for me, it was
one of the best football experiences I have had."
ANNUAL TOURS
Hammam has earned a reputation as a quiet and humble president but he was
forced to come out fighting when Malaysia insisted on hosting Manchester
United on July 27.
The president told United they were welcome any time of the year except in
the middle of Asia's biggest tournament and the English team eventually
scrapped the Malaysian leg of their Asian tour.
The United saga, however, is
only part of a bigger problem, which is the English Premier League's
influence over Asian soccer fans.
Apart from annual tours, Asians are swamped by English, Italian and Spanish
football on television.
Hammam said the only cure was for Asian football to raise its own game.
"We can't stop people from watching foreign football on TV, the only thing
we can do is raise our standards so that people would prefer to watch their
local teams," he said.
With his Vision Asia programme making inroads into potential footballing
giants China and India and the 2009 club super league still in the works,
Hammam sees a rosy future for Asian football.
"At the end of the day, if our football is good, everything else will
follow," he said.
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