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The Asian Football Confederation (AFC)’s unwavering commitment to strengthen its connection with the world’s largest football stadium – Asia’s passionate fans – was applauded by the AFC Media and Communications Committee at its third meeting held online today.
Despite the backdrop of uncertainty in 2021, the Committee, chaired by Ganbaatar Amgalanbaatar, was heartened to recognise that the COVID-19 pandemic did little to dampen the spirits of Asia’s fans who continued to actively engage with the AFC’s digital platforms in record numbers.
A key reason for the soaring engagement figures has been the careful and strategic execution of the AFC Social Media Strategy for the period from 2021 to 2024, which was previously approved by the Committee, further reinforcing the AFC’s Vision of ensuring football remains the Continent’s most popular sport.
Most notably, the Committee was pleased to acknowledge that the video views on the AFC’s digital offerings, which include the AFC’s Facebook accounts, the recently introduced Weibo channel as well as The AFC Hub, grew by an impressive 55% year-on-year, from 247.1 million in 2020 to 382.2 million views in 2021.
At the same time, the followers on the AFC’s wide-ranging and multilingual digital platforms witnessed a 31% rise from 15.4 million in 2020 to 20.1 million new followers in 2021, with the AFC’s Instagram accounts in particular registering a staggering 237% year-on-year increase.
Meanwhile, the-AFC.com saw a 15.2% year-on-year increase, with 63 million page views and the Committee was also briefed on the refreshed new look of the AFC’s website, which was launched on September 28, 2021, with the aim of facilitating greater flexibility in delivering ‘fan-first’ content and leveraging on the ever-improving interest in and consumption of the AFC’s competitions.
The Committee was pleased to note the continuation of the AFC Communications Workshops, with Member Associations (MAs) from the ASEAN Zone the first to benefit from its restart and agreed to extend the postponement of the MA Digital Pilot Project, which was put on hold due to the complexities caused by the pandemic.
Members of the Committee were also updated on the ever-growing spirit of partnership between the AFC – LOC Editorial Board for the AFC Asian Cup China 2023™, which worked in close collaboration to successfully deliver several milestones, including the tournament’s logo launch last month.
