FIFA Vice-President representing Asia and Chairman of the Asian Football Development Project HRH Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein concluded yesterday his visit to Manchester to attend the Soccerex Global Convention.

In a one-on-one interview with Soccerex Senior Consultant David Davies OBE, Prince Ali shared his thoughts and opinions on his career in football to date, the future he sees for football in Asia and the challenges he feels that need to be overcome for this future to be realized. The session also highlighted the work of AFDP and the role of football as a change-maker within societies.

Following Prince Ali’s panel, AFDP and Soccerex signed an agreement to host Soccerex’s Asian Forum in Jordan for the second consecutive year in April 2015.

“My participation at Soccerex both here in Manchester and in Jordan has given me an excellent platform to brainstorm with colleagues and meet football stakeholders and social development organizations that utilize the sport. I look forward to welcoming the Asian Forum once more in my hometown next year,” Prince Ali noted.

On the sidelines of the conference, Prince Ali met with David Dein and the newly-appointed Jordan National Team manager Ray Wilkins to review plans for the next phase and preparations for the 2015 AFC Asian Cup. Other meetings included former football stars Brian Robson, Louis Saha, Jean Marie Pfaff and Lucas Neill. In addition, Prince Ali presented the International Federation of Football History and Statistics’s Best League Award to La Liga President Javier Tebas.

During the visit, Sir Bobby Charlton hosted Prince Ali in an official dinner at Old Trafford attended by Michael Johnson and representatives of Sir Bobby’s charity entitled ‘Find A Better Way’ which conducts research on new ways of detecting and clearing landmine. Sir Bobby accompanied Prince Ali in a tour the following day to see Manchester United’s training center where the two football officials exchanged views on the development of the game on club and national team levels.

“Meeting the legendary Sir Bobby Charlton was an absolute pleasure and I very much enjoyed hearing about his experiences and listening to his remarkable stories. He is a man who lives for football and I have tremendous respect for that,” Prince Ali said.