Kuala Lumpur: Lack of proper administration was hampering the growth of Asian football, a top official of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) said on Wednesday.

Presenting the Vision Asia programme, AFC president Mohamed bin Hammam said Asia had the talent and resources, but lacked good administration, planning and implementation.

"AFC currently exploits only 20 per cent of the potential of its 44 member countries," he said, adding "AFC's primary objective is to help all members to realise their full potential and develop football."

Hammam cited Japan as an example of proper administration.

"But unlike Japan many countries in the region operate on one man show system and once that one man disappears the system disappears as well," he said, adding that continuity and stability is important to achieve objectives.

"My dream is to see more Asian countries representing the region in international events. If Japan and Korea can make it, China and India can make it too," said Hammam.

"Financially Asia has resources, a lot of Asian companies are sponsoring FIFA World Cup and our television companies are the major buyers of the rights to show football matches," he said.

While Asia could give more to the world of football, Hammam expected that FIFA would also give more assistance and opportunity to the countries in the region.

"Asia is a large region and countries are gearing up to achieve international football standards. On higher quantitative and qualitative measures, it is likely to get more seats in the forthcoming World Cup," said Hammam.

He said, on the basis of Vision Asia master plan, all member countries would conduct a detailed survey of their financial and technical requirements and prepare their development programme.

Implementation of Vision Asia master plan will start next year, he added.

PTI