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The Asian Football Confederation (AFC)’s resolve in providing content in its best form to a worldwide audience was further highlighted by the AFC Media & Communications Committee at its fourth meeting held virtually on Wednesday.
Led by Chairperson Ganbaatar Amgalanbaatar, the Committee noted the significant improvement in engagement on the AFC’s digital channels in recent years, particularly against the backdrop of the Confederation’s impressive recovery from the pandemic.
The Committee commended the staggering improvement in numbers that were achieved during tournaments such as the 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup – India, where China clinched their record ninth title.
While serving as the qualification grounds for China PR, Japan, Korea Republic, the Philippines and Vietnam for the 2023 edition of the FIFA Women’s World Cup, the tournament saw the AFC’s digital platforms registering an improvement in engagement by 5,324% from the previous edition of the tournament.
Similarly, the AFC Asian Qualifiers –Road to Qatar™, which saw the likes of Australia, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Japan, Korea Republic, and Saudi Arabia, confirming their 2022 FIFA World Cup – Qatar berths, was yet another successful venture for the AFC in the digital realm as it demonstrated a jump of 2,108% since its earlier edition.
Additionally, during the AFC U23 Asian Cup Uzbekistan 2022™, where the hosts fell short of being crowned champions after losing 2-0 to Saudi Arabia in the Final, the AFC’s Social Media platforms marked a 194% increase in engagement over the 2020 Thailand edition.
An overall refurbishment of www.the-AFC.com is ongoing, and the Committee received updates on the approaches being undertaken to enhance the website.
It was noted that in terms of overall followers, the AFC’s social media platforms have seen a steady year-on-year growth, amounting to an increase of 371% since 2016 where AFC’s videos on the AFC’s digital platforms received 442.7 million views.
The AFC’s Facebook following witnessed an improvement of 255% since 2016 while an increase of 354% was reported for Twitter followers. Similarly, Instagram following reached a record-breaking 5,160% while YouTube, and Weibo, each saw a remarkable jump in following by 1367% and 147% respectively since 2016.
Furthermore, the AFC TikTok account, which was launched last year saw an improvement in engagement by 866%.
The Committee also took note of the Communications workshops that were organised in August and September for the AFC’s Member Associations in the South, Central, and East Zones, where the MAs’ communications teams came together to share their best practices with the goal of helping each other hone their own communications strategies and crisis communications landscapes.
