AFC fails to recognise Australia on its map of Asia
Dominic Bossi
http://www.theage.com.au/sport/soccer/afc-asian-cup/afc-fails-to-recognise-australia-on-its-map-of-asia-20141231-12g5a6.html



It has been nine years since Australia joined the Asian Football Confederation and on the eve of the region's largest football tournament landing down under, the confederation has been left exposed with an embarrassing mishap - omitting the map of Australia from their logo.

The confederation's icon features a map of the entire Asian region spanning from the northern tip of the Arabian gulf, India, south-east Asia and East Asia but does not feature the slightest hint of Australian borders south of the archipelago of Indonesia.

On the logo, a clear map of Asia is present and represented in pixels similar to panels of a football. The image marks the geography of their members and even goes so far as to portray the rising sun east of what appears to be Japan. However, just nine days from the opening ceremony of the 2015 Asian Cup hosted by Australia, the AFC has not yet remodelled its logo to show any resemblance of Australia as a member. It is understood the logo has not been adapted since 2001 despite Australia joining in 2006 and becoming one of the region's most powerful football forces in the men's and women's game.

This oversight appears all the more embarrassing given the representation of Australians in the 2014 annual Asian football awards. Australian Katrina Gorry is the Asian women's player of the year, Socceroos captain Mile Jedinak was named the international player of the year and Tony Popovic the male coach of the year as Western Sydney Wanderers were named the 2014 club of the year and won the Asian Champions League.

The map of Australia is the predominant feature of the 2015 Asian Cup logo created by the local organising committee with the blessing of the confederation. The logo features a red figure kicking a ball beneath the backdrop of Australia in yellow. Michael Brown, the chief executive of the local organising committee for the 2015 Asian Cup, said the matter was an issue for the confederation.

"The local organising committee is focused on running the Asian Cup. The AFC Asian Cup Australia 2015 logo strongly features the map of Australia. The AFC's official logo is a matter for the AFC," Brown said.

Fairfax Media attempted to contact the AFC for comment but a spokesman was not available.

The tournament begins on January 9 in Melbourne where Australia faces Kuwait in the opening match of the cup. Competing nations are continuing to arrive, with Iran and Palestine the last two teams to touch down in Australia to join the likes of South Korea, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Jordan and Bahrain.