‘Successful’ 2015 Soccerex Asian Forum comes to a close

DEAD SEA — The old way of playing football is much more exciting and better than the current football style, legendary Argentinian player Diego Maradona said on Monday.

During his session at the 2015 Soccerex Asian Forum at the Dead Sea, Maradona said he prefers the way football was during his time as a player.

“Whenever a player touches another player the referee calls for a foul. In my time, if a player kicked me I did not get a foul,” he told a huge crowd of attendees through an interpreter.

Maradona also talked about his childhood and how he used to enjoy playing football and that his passion for the sport enhanced his performance.

Maradona, who was interviewed by a presenter, did not talk about this year’s FIFA presidential election but in March announced his support for HRH Prince Ali’s bid.

At the time, Maradona said he has been following the reforms introduced by Prince Ali to football in the region, and expressed his desire to support the prince in leading change in FIFA, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

The football legend said he would travel to several countries to support Prince Ali in his campaign, Petra reported.

Maradona closed the two-day forum, which was held in Jordan for the second time.

Soccerex CEO Duncan Revie described this year’s forum as “successful”.

“Soccerex has grown by 30 to 40 per cent this year in Jordan and our third year will also be in Jordan and it has been a great success this year. We got great names, not to mention the opening by Prince Ali,” he told The Jordan Times in an interview.

“Famous clubs are taking part in this year’s forum including Milan and Arsenal. This year 40 football associations and 60 clubs are taking part,” he added.

Revie said all sessions were informative and beneficial for all regions, including Asia.

A number of issues were on the agenda of the two-day forum, including the development of local leagues, women’s football and infrastructure. 

Over 850 delegates took  part in the forum, hosted in conjunction with the Asian Football Development Project, at the King Hussein Bin Talal Convention Centre. A total of 85 national federation representatives, and 60 clubs and league representatives also attended the event. 

Since the first event in 1996, Soccerex has led the way in bringing the football business community together. In nearly two decades, it has worked in 13 countries across five continents providing learning and networking opportunities to nearly 50,000 industry figures.