Salman bin Ibrahim: The 2023 Asian Cup is an “exceptional” tournament

Dubai (Etihad)
With the world's attention focused on the Qatari capital, Doha, which is preparing to host the Asian Cup Finals for the third time in the tournament's history, Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa, President of the Asian Football Confederation and First Vice President of FIFA, expressed his sincere wishes of success to the participating Asian teams, praising the spirit of innovation. And the challenge expressed by the Asian football family on the cusp of the upcoming continental event.
Ibn Ibrahim said in a statement to the AFC’s official website: “We realize that our teams, players, and hundreds of millions of enthusiastic fans around the world are eagerly awaiting the start of the great continental event, and now we are close to establishing the best version ever of the jewel of the Asian football championships, and in the name of the AFC.” For football, I would like to express my sincere wishes for success to our teams, players and referees, and I am confident that during the tournament we will witness distinguished performances that confirm the great and clear development of Asian football.”
The President of the AFC pointed to the exceptional preparations made by the State of Qatar since it was chosen to host the tournament in October 2022, stressing his confidence in the accumulated capabilities possessed by the Qatar Football Association and the Local Organizing Committee of the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023.
He explained: “We realize that this was the shortest period ever that we had before us to organize the most important men’s football tournaments in Asia, but we assured the world that we are ready to organize an exceptional tournament, in new evidence of the unity of the Asian football family.”
The President of the AFC spoke about the pioneering innovative solutions that will be presented in the jewel of the Asian continent’s tournaments, including the Asian Electronic Cup, which is scheduled to be held from February 1-5, and the use of the semi-automated offside system and video assistant referee technology in all matches. The 51st tournament.
He continued: “From the moment Qatar was chosen as a host country, we knew that this would be the first edition in the history of the Asian Cup to be held on World Cup stadiums, and we also appointed female referees to the list of tournament referees, for the first time, and now, with the introduction of semi-automated offside technology.” And the full implementation of the video assistant referee technology, in addition to the e-Asia Cup, I am happy to announce that the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023 will be a tournament with historical precedents.”