Zhang Jilong

Zhang Jilong
Zhang Jilong, 2011
Senior-Vice President of AFC
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 May 2013
President	Salman Al-Khalifa
Preceded by	Moya Dodd
In office 11 January 2007 – 1 August 2011
President	Mohammed Bin Hammam
Preceded by	Ali Bin Khalifa
Succeeded by	Moya Dodd
Acting President of AFC
In office 14 June 2011 – 1 May 2013[1]
Vice President	Moya Dodd
Preceded by	Mohammed Bin Hammam
Succeeded by	Salman Al-Khalifa
Personal details
Born	Zhang Jilong (1952-02-09) 9 February 1952 Yantai, People's Republic of China
Nationality	Chinese
Occupation	Football administrator

Zhang Jilong (born 9 February 1952^[2] in Yantai, People's Republic of China) is a Chinese football administrator who is the current senior vice president of Asian Football Federation. Jilong previously served as a Vice President of AFC from 2002 to 2011 and as Senior Vice President from 11 January 2007 to 1 August 2011. He had been the Acting President of the Asian Football Confederation from 14 June 2011 until 1 May 2013 after the resignation of Mohammed Bin Hammam. He was also a member of the FIFA Executive Committee.

Early life

Zhang was born in Yantai, a town in the Shandong Province. Zhang graduated from the Beijing International Studies University in 1975.^[3] After graduating from university Zhang returned to his home province at the age of 17 and began shipping/transportation work with the Grand China Logistics company.^[4] Zhang joined the Chinese military in 1969, and after being discharged he joined the National Athletic Committee of China. At the same time he returned to studying at the Beijing International Studies University, then after completion of his degree returned to the National Athletic Committee and worked in the foreign affairs department. In 1978 Zhang joined the Chinese Football Association (CFA) and in his second year he helped coach the Chinese sports delegation to Nigeria’s foreign aid work. Zhang was primarily responsible for translation and liaison work, which he provided for two years and ten months. In 1989 he joined the Asia Football Association and served as a representative in the Regulatory Compliance committee. In 1994, he joined the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) women's committee.

Football career

In 1978, Zhang returned home. When the Chinese Football Association was formally established, he was in the Football Association in foreign affairs.^[5]

AFC career

in 1989, Zhang joined the AFC as a member of the AFC Rules Committee. He became the AFC Finance Committee chairman in April 2000. In 1994 Zhang joined the FIFA Women's Committee. After the election of Mohammed Bin Hammam as AFC President, on 1 August 2002, Zhang was named as one of his vice presidents. He was elected as Senior-Vice President in January 2007 by the AFC members. He ran for a seat on the FIFA executive committee on January 2011, but was defeated in a vote at the AFC's congress in Doha.^[6]

FIFA suspended Bin Hammam for life on 23 July 2011, due to bribery allegations, and he was officially dismissed as head of the Asian Football Confederation. On 29 July 2011, the members of AFC were informed that the legal committee was in agreement that an Extraordinary Congress for the election of President may be convened in the event that the office of President falls vacant for more than one year. This means that an Extraordinary Congress for this purpose could not be convened until after 30 May 2012 and Zhang will act as President until that date. In the end, Zhang indeed acted as the first executive chairman due to the suspension of Bin Hammam. He was also elected as a member of the FIFA Executive Committee.

In September 2012, due to his age Zhang retired from his role as foreign affairs director at the State Sports General Administration, but continued to preside over the AFC in his capacity as Acting Chairman

In February 2013, Zhang Jilong announced that he would withdraw from the elections of the next AFC President and FIFA Executive Committee.

"The Draw In Asia"

Originally for World Cup 2002 FIFA wanted to carry out the seeding of the teams by calculating and referencing to the match records from the previous three World Cups. However on the day before the draw, the president of FIFA, Joseph "Sepp" Blatter, suddenly decided that instead of looking at the previous three records, the records from the previous two World Cups and the previous two Asia Cups will be used as reference for the seeding.

Because this new rule would work against the Chinese team, Zhang called the secretary of the Asia Football association, Veerapan, and asked to personally meet up with Blatter to discuss the proposed rule. Zhang asserted that "FIFA should not interfere with the internal affairs of the Asia Football association" and asked Blatter to take back the new rule. Veerapan accepted Zhang's proposal and announced that he would discuss the matter with Blatter. Finally, the draw for the games took place in Bangkok on June 1, 2001 and the draw followed the rules originally set by the Asia Football Association instead of the new proposed rule. As a result the Chinese football team achieved a "lucky draw" and was seeded with United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Qatar, and Oman. China won first place in the group and successfully entered the finals of the game.

References

External links

• Official AFC website