KUALA LUMPUR: Asean Football Federation (AFF) president and former Asian Football Confederation (AFC) president Sultan Ahmad Shah is the recipient of the 2011 AFC Diamond of Asia award.
According to the AFF website, the award is bestowed upon an individual for exemplary contribution towards the development and promotion of football, on and off the field, within the Asian continent.
An AFC delegation led by its acting president, Zhang Jilong, visited Sultan Ahmad Shah at Istana Pahang here on Tuesday to convey the news.
The Sultan has served as AFC president from 1994 to 2002.
The AFC Diamond of Asia award will be presented to Sultan Ahmad Shah, who is also Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) president, at the AFC Annual Awards ceremony to be held at a leading hotel in Kuala Lumpur on Nov 23.
In lauding the Sultan’s contribution to Asian football, Zhang said: “AFC and the Asian football family can never forget the Sultan’s contribution. The AFC Executive Committee unanimously decided to honour him.”
Sultan Ahmad Shah said: “I look forward to closer co-operation between AFC and AFF in the future.”
Previous recipients of the award include Saburo Kawabuchi (2005), Datuk Seri Sepp Blatter (2006), Lennart Johannson (2007), Ken Naganuma (posthumously; 2008), General Farouk Bouzo (2009) and Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak (2010). —Bernama