Sport leaders set to contribute to Soccerex Asian Forum

Stakeholders with an interest in Asian football and its role in the global sport marketplace will be attending the Soccerex Asian Forum this week.

Taking place on Tuesday 13th and Wednesday 14th May on the banks of the Dead Sea in Jordan, the Forum is bringing together the leading figures from the world of Asian football as well as other international football experts to discuss the development of the game across Asia. The conference agenda will include a review of the opportunities for growth and the challenges facing Asian football.

Australia, as host of the 2015 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup, will have a significant presence at the Forum, while the presence of India, Korea and a host of other Asian federations signals the arrival of the Asian Forum as the most significant gateway to Asian football. In addition to national associations, a number of premier footballing institutions including world governing body FIFA, The FA, La Liga, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Manchester United, Barcelona, the Japan Football Association and Galatasaray, have signed up for the event.

Australia’s Moya Dodd, in her role as AFC Vice President will have a significant presence at the event, joining separate panel discussions on ‘The Future is Asia’ and ‘Breaking Boundaries: Women’s Football in Asia’.

Other speakers on ‘The Future is Asia’ panel include HRH Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein, FIFA Vice-President Asia; Winston Lee, General Secretary, Singapore Football Association and David Davies, Senior Consultant, Soccerex.

Other speakers on the ‘Breaking Boundaries: Women’s Football in Asia’ Forum, include Samar Nassar, Chief Executive of U17 FIFA Women’s World Cup 2016 and Morinao Imaizumi, Assistant Director of Coach Education, Japan Football Association.

The session will look at how Asia is increasingly becoming a focal point for women’s football including the growth of women’s football in Asia, the commercial opportunities associated with it and how the game is helping to address key political and social issues for women of all ages across Asia.

The Soccerex Asian Forum will also see Australia’s AFC 2015 Asian Cup Local Organising Committee partner with Austrade, the Australian Trade Commission, to host a networking hub at the heart of the exhibition hall named ‘Café Australia’. The AFC will also be involved within the conference program, giving delegates updates on the delivery of the Cup in a panel dedicated to major events.

Another key Soccerex Asian Forum panel will  address ‘Building Leagues: A Footballing Blueprint’ at which a group of international league and federation chiefs, agencies and sponsors will discuss the development and commercialisation of league football with a particular focus on the Asian market.

Representing two of the biggest agencies currently operating in Asia will be Kunihito Morimura, President and Chief Execuitve of Dentsu Sports Asia, recently appointed as the J. League's marketing partner for the 2014 to 2018 seasons and the official marketing agency for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and Jeff Slack, Senior Vice-President of Global Football Development at IMG, the agency behind a number of developing leagues across Asia including the new Indian Super League.

Providing the sponsor point of view on the panel will be Adel Ezzat, Marketing Director of ALJ, sole distributor of Toyota vehicles in Saudi Arabia and real estate and consumer finance specialists, whose title sponsorship of the Saudi Professional League is one of the largest deals in the world.

The inclusion of these three influential panelists alongside La Liga President Javier Tebas and United States Soccer Federation (USSF) President Sunil Gulati has turned the panel into one of the most important league development panels in recent history.

Being staged in partnership with the Asian Football Development Project (AFDP), the Soccerex Asian Forum is being sponsored by the Asian Football Confederation, Royal Jordanian Airlines, PepsiCo and the Jordan Tourism Board.

Commenting on the backing, Soccerex Chief Executive Duncan Revie explains “we are very excited to bring this impressive selection of global brands to the event.

“These are first-class organisations that bring the sport and the community together, and we believe will help Jordan and the rest of the continent become a destination for the global industry and soccer fans alike for many years to come.”

The Soccerex Asian Forum is being held at the Marriott Dead Sea Spa & Resort.

For further details about the Soccerex Asian Forum please contact Soccerex on +44 208 987 5522, E: enquiry@soccerex.com.

Click here to view the full conference program or go to www.soccerex.com/events/asia/

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