MELBOURNE: The Asian Football Confederation Extraordinary Congress has approved amendments to the AFC Statutes as proposed by the AFC Executive Committee on the morning of the opening match of the AFC Asian Cup Australia 2015. The majority of the amendments are related to the division of the South and Central zone into two separate zones, a division that was approved by the Member Associations at the AFC Extraordinary Congress in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in June 2014. AFC President Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa thanked the delegates for their sustained support in his opening speech and remarked: ”Over the last 18 months we have taken a number of important measures and decisions which impact our game both on and off the field of play. “The setting up of the AFC Governance Reform Task Force, the adoption of the AFC Code of Ethics and AFC Code of Conduct and the formation of the AFC Electoral Committee are some of the concrete steps taken to improve governance of the confederation. We are also collaborating with Interpol and FIFA to protect the integrity of the Asian game. “We have taken steps to strengthen our Statutes and as a part of that process youunanimously decided to separate South-Central into two zones when we last met in Sao Paulo. I am confident that this is a positive step for the development of the game. “The proposed amendments to the AFC Statutes are critical in taking our confederation to the next level, and I have no doubt that you will once again be unanimous in their approval.” The Central zone will group together six central Asian countries with a richfootballing tradition and considerable playing success, including regional powerhouses Iran and Uzbekistan, who are both taking part in the current edition of the AFC Asian Cup. The South zone will group together the seven rapidly developingfootballing countries of the sub-continent, and is home tosome of the most exciting developments in Asian football, notably the recent establishment of professional leagues and major tournaments which are set to take place across the region, such as the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup in India.