Women's football is booming in Asia on the back of increased efforts since China hosted the inaugural FIFA Women’s World Cup in 1991, Asian Football Confederation President Mohamed Bin Hammam told AFP. "The number of players has increased, the number of women coaches has risen, the number of administrators has increased, so we can say we are in a boom in the development of women's football. In many of our nations the level of support has been increasing. Today the participation from our member associations is from the Far East of Asia to the Far West of Asia, where nations used to disallow women's football previously," he said.
Bin Hammam added that Asia's young generation of women players were leading the world, with North Korea and China coming first and second in last year's FIFA U-20 Women’s World Championship and China's Ma Xiaoxu named player of the tournament. He said there were now more senior and junior women's competitions in the region, and the AFC was raising its number of women executive committee members to at least four. "I can say that the entire continent is 100 percent behind women's activities and football in Asia," he reiterated.
Bin Hammam added that Asia's young generation of women players were leading the world, with North Korea and China coming first and second in last year's FIFA U-20 Women’s World Championship and China's Ma Xiaoxu named player of the tournament. He said there were now more senior and junior women's competitions in the region, and the AFC was raising its number of women executive committee members to at least four. "I can say that the entire continent is 100 percent behind women's activities and football in Asia," he reiterated.