The Vice President of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) visited OFC headquarters in Auckland today, between bi-lateral meetings with the FIFA development office.

Vernon Manilal Fernando is the VP of AFC, President of Sri Lankan Football, and a FIFA development officer in Sri Lanka, and took time to sit with New Zealand development officers
Glenn Turner and Patrick Jacquemet and Deputy General Secretary Frederic Guillemont to discuss broad football matters involving Oceania.

Manilal’s visit opens the possibility of future partnerships and co-operation between Oceania and Asia that could be mutually beneficial.

 

Jacquemet liaised with Manilal over opportunities to visit a country in the Asian confederation to learn more about futsal and assist in a futsal course to help progress in the region.

Manilal spoke of similarities between Sri Lankan football and developing countries within Oceania and felt the two regions were comparable.

Turner has worked with Manilal before and has a lot of respect for his achievements.

“He’s a good guy with a huge sense of humor,” Turner said. “He’s the chairman of finance, a lawyer extraordinaire, a real character and a great football man.”

There are over 22 million people in Sri Lanka’s population and around 2 – 3000 people attend matches in the Sri Lankan league. The finals can attract crowds of up to 20,000.

Manilal was elected earlier this year and holds one of four Vice President spots on the AFC executive committee alongside representatives from China PR, Malaysia and UAE.

His appointment has made a big impact on Sri Lankan football where he has increased the funding to the country, is working toward building a complete football headquarters, and has
plans to introduce semi professional soccer in the country.

He is the first ever Sri Lankan Vice President on the AFC executive committee and is a high profile personality in Asian football.

He was presented with a Maori axe with greenstone blade as a souvenir by OFC executive committee member Martin Alufurai and Guillemont to honor his visit to Oceania.

“It was good to visit with OFC at their base in Auckland and I was impressed with Oceania,” said Manilal. “I wish them a good future and look forward to tracking their
progress.”