Patel named AFC VP; Blatter to visit Delhi for AFC awards

PANAJI: On the day Praful Patel was elected unopposed as vice president (South) of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), football's governing body for the continent handed one more gift to India.
Patel, president of the All India Football Federation (AIFF), was elected unopposed after Pakistan's football chief, Makhdoom Syed Faisal Saleh Hayat, withdrew from the fray before members could cast their votes at the AFC Congress in Manama, Bahrain, on Thursday.
The AFC Congress is AFC's highest decision-making body.
India's growing influence in the region came to the fore in Bahrain when the organization confirmed that the South Asian nation has been handpicked to host this year's AFC Annual Awards.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter and general secretary Jerome Valcke have both confirmed that they will make the trip to India for the AFC Annual Awards 2015, which will be held in Delhi on November 29.
"We are hosting the Asian Awards night later this year and I had a word with Sepp Blatter in Bahrain today. He confirmed his presence in India for the awards and will be joined by the general secretary .We will also have the AFC president and other bigwigs of Asian football," Patel told TOI in a telephonic conversation from Bahrain on Thursday .
"The general feeling in Bahrain was that India needs to be given its due," said Patel.