Asian Confederation chief calls for improvement

KUALA LUMPUR, July 14 (Reuters) Asian nations need to improve their domestic leagues after a relatively poor showing at the recent World Cup, Asian Football Confederation (AFC) president Mohamed Bin Hammam said today.

Bin Hamman was speaking after a meeting of the body's technical committee to assess the performances of South Korea, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Australia at the tournament in Germany.

Only Australia, who qualified for Germany as an Oceania representative before switching to the AFC, progressed beyond the group stage, going out to eventual champions Italy in the last 16.

''Undeniably, we are still far behind the international level that we aspire to. We must work hard to close the gap with the big guns. I must say that I am very disappointed with our results in Germany,'' Bin Hammam said in a statement.

''All national associations and clubs should play their role to improve the overall standard of Asian football. Restructuring and improving the standard in our clubs and in our leagues is the only way for us to head into professionalism.'' Bin Hammam said AFC's Vision Asia programme, which aims to raise the standard of football administration, coaching and playing throughout the continent, is the way forward for Asia.

''I can see our future through the long-term Vision Asia project,'' he said.

''Youth and grassroots are the foundation of the future and in order to achieve this, we have to implement the Vision Asia projects in different countries as soon as possible.'' Between them, Japan, South Korea, Iran and Saudi Arabia managed just one victory in Germany, South Korea's 2-1 defeat of Togo.

REUTERS AY PM1839