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What's the story?
All India Football Federation senior vice president Subrata Dutta was appointed as Vice President of the newly formed South West Asia Football Federation during its General Assembly held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Dutta was elected for a four-year term in these polls of the regional body.
In case you didn't know...
South West Asia Football Federation also known as SWAFF, led by Dr. Adel Ezzat, who is the President and Chairman of Saudi Arabian Football Federation, comprises of ten footballing nations including India.
The member nations include India, Maldives, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Bangladesh, Kuwait, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Yemen. Notable absentees include Nepal, Bhutan, Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, and Qatar.
A meeting for the launch of SWAFF was organized in May this year which was attended by Subrata Dutta and AIFF general secretary Kushal Das.
The heart of the matter
After the formation of the new sporting body a few months back in May, the news of the appointment of AIFF vice-president Subrata Dutta as the vice president of SWAFF signals the beginning of a new era in South West Asian football.
Subrata Dutta’s presence should be good news for Indian football and the newly elected official was hopeful about the positive developments of Indian football in tandem with the other countries in this federation.
Subrata Dutta said that SWAFF has allocated funds for development of Indian football while significant progress has been made regarding the SWAFF Cup where India will play against the likes of Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Bahrain.
Adel Ezzat will be the President of SWAFF, Mohamed Shaweed (Maldives FA) was elected as the Senior Vice President while Abdullah Al Junaibi (UAE FA) was the other appointed Vice President.
What's next?
SWAFF President Adel Ezzat is scheduled to visit India later this month to meet AIFF President Praful Patel and discuss the roadmap of SWAFF’s functionality in India. Subrata Dutta also said that there are talks of a high profile friendly with Saudi Arabia in mid-November ahead of the AFC Asia Cup in January.
