Central Asian Football Association
 | |
| Abbreviation | CAFA |
|---|---|
| Formation | 9 January 2015 |
| Type | Sports organization |
| Headquarters | Tashkent, Uzbekistan |
Membership | 6 member associations |
President |
 Mirabror Usmanov |
Vice President |
 Ali Kafashian |
The Central Asian Football Association (CAFA)[1] is an association of the football playing nations in Central Asia.
In June 2014, the association was in principle approved by the Asian Football Confederation and approved at the Extraordinary Congress in January 2015 during the 2015 AFC Asian Cup.[2][3] As a result, CAFA will in the future be able to have member(s) on the AFC executive committee.
The formation of CAFA was spearheaded by the Iranian Football Federation following disputes with West Asian Football Federation members. It was reported that AFC President Salman Bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa gained politically from the creation of the new zone.[4]
History
Members of the six nations met with AFC president Sheikh Salman on 10 May 2014 to talk about the possibility of creating a new Asian football zone. The delegations were invited by the AFC president following an initiative by Iran and Afghanistan.[5] At the extraordinary AFC congress on 9 June 2014 in São Paulo, the plan of the new zone was ratified by the congress.[6][7]
Member associations
CAFA will consist of six member associations. All of them are members of the Asian Football Confederation.
| Association | Former federation | Men's Football | U23 Football | U19 Football | U16 Football | Women's Football | WU19 Football | WU16 Football | Men's Futsal | Women's Futsal | Beach Soccer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Afghanistan |
SAFF, 2005–2015 | Afghanistan | Afghanistan | Afghanistan | Afghanistan | Afghanistan | - | - | Afghanistan | - | Afghanistan |
| Iran |
WAFF, 2001–2014 | Iran | Iran | Iran | Iran | Iran | Iran | Iran | Iran | Iran | Iran |
 Kyrgyzstan |
None | Kyrgyzstan | Kyrgyzstan | Kyrgyzstan | Kyrgyzstan | Kyrgyzstan | Kyrgyzstan | - | Kyrgyzstan | - | - |
 Tajikistan |
None | Tajikistan | Tajikistan | Tajikistan | Tajikistan | Tajikistan | Tajikistan | Tajikistan | Tajikistan | - | - |
 Turkmenistan |
None | Turkmenistan | Turkmenistan | Turkmenistan | Turkmenistan | Turkmenistan | - | - | Turkmenistan | - | - |
| Uzbekistan |
None | Uzbekistan | Uzbekistan | Uzbekistan | Uzbekistan | Uzbekistan | Uzbekistan | Uzbekistan | Uzbekistan | Uzbekistan | Uzbekistan |
Ranking
Men's National TeamsRankings are calculated by FIFA.
|
Leading men's team:  |
Women's National Teams
|
Leading Women's team:  |
Executive committee
| Position | Name | Years active |
|---|---|---|
| President | Mirabror Usmanov |
2015 - |
| Vice-president | Rustam Emomali |
2015 - |
| General Secretary | Sardor Rakhmatullaev |
2015 - |
| Vice-General Secretary | Seyed Reza Aghazadeh |
2015 - |
| AFC Vice-president | Ali Kafashian[10] |
2015 - |
| Female General Secretary | Zohra Mehri |
2015 - |
CAFA championship
Currently there is no scheduled tournament for senior national teams. An under-15 tournament for all CAFA members plus four Japanese sides was held in March 2015 in Tokyo. Under the motto "SPORT FOR TOMORROW", teams played in groups of five. The final was won by Iran over Tajikistan in a penalty shootout.[11]
See also
- Asian Football Confederation (AFC)
- ASEAN Football Federation (AFF)
- East Asian Football Federation (EAFF)
- South Asian Football Federation (SAFF)
- West Asian Football Federation (WAFF)
- ECO Cup
References
- ↑ "اتحادیه فوتبال آسیای مرکزی ایجاد شد" (in Persian). BBC. 22 February 2015. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
- ↑ "'Central Zone' gets thumbs up from Tajikistan". The AFC. 10 June 2014. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
- ↑ "AFC adds a fifth zone as Extraordinary Congress approves amendments to AFC Statutes". The AFC. 12 January 2015. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
- ↑ Warshaw, Andrew (10 June 2014). "Shaikh Salman flexes his political muscle to brush aside Prince Ali". InsideWorldFootball.com. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
- ↑ "Central Asians meet Sheikh Salman to create CAFA". aff.org.af. 17 May 2014. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
- ↑ "Sheikh Salman Wins Bitter Battle to End Prince Ali's FIFA Vice-Presidency" (10 June 2014). worldfootballinsider.com. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
- ↑ "AFC president to resume FIFA Vice Presidency". goal.com. 11 June 2014. Retrieved 29 October 2014.
- ↑ "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking (Men)". FIFA. 4 February 2016.
- ↑ "The FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking (Women)". FIFA. 18 December 2015.
- ↑ Kafashian Elected as One of Five AFC Vice Presidents
- ↑ "Day 5 report from SPORT FOR TOMORROW Japan-Central Asia Exchange (29 Mar.)". jfa.jp. 30 March 2015. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
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