Committees
Led by Chairperson Ganbaatar Amgalanbaatar, members were provided with comprehensive updates of the Confederation’s determined efforts to expand the reach and visibility of Asian football through its digital platforms.
Notably, the Committee lauded the impressive continued growth of the AFC’s digital assets, which built on the record numbers that had been showcased at the previous meeting held a year ago.
With nearly 37 million followers from all of its accounts across nine platforms (Facebook, X, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Weibo, Douyin, Dongqiudi, Threads), the AFC registered an 8% year-on-year increase. With 1.18 million followers, Threads recorded the highest increase year-on-year at 25%, followed by Douyin’s 580,645 (14%) and Facebook’s 9.1 million (11%). Video views across the AFC’s digital platforms hit 2.33 billion, a 5% year-on-year increase.
The strong performance was driven by the innovative and comprehensive coverage of 11 AFC competitions and events, both at club and national team level.
The rapid growth of women’s football was borne out by the numbers, as the AFC Women's Asian Cup Australia 2026™ registered more than half a billion impressions at 532,290,880 and 116,413,244 video views – up 95% and 57% from 2022 respectively. In the AFC Women's Champions League 2025/26™, the second edition of the landmark competition recorded 83,502,910 impressions and 28,552,601 video views – 57% and 38% more than the previous season.
Interest remained strong in the AFC Champions League Elite™ and AFC Champions League Two™, which recorded 22% and 7% increases in impressions respectively at more than 1.77 billion and 742,228,547 for 2025/26. The AFC Challenge League™ registered especially stellar growth, with impressions at the most recent edition rising 48% to 100,452,706 and video views at 9% to 14,292,391.
Remarkable engagement was further observed at the AFC Futsal Asian Cup Indonesia 2026™, where 417,436,482 impressions and 158,662,835 video views were logged – 49% and 132% more than the preceding edition in 2024.
Another highlight was the progress of the AFC Live App, which surpassed 541,070 downloads, representing a 21% year-on-year increase. As part of continuous refinement, enhanced gamification features such as fantasy football, match predictors, champion prediction games, fan-voted awards and Dream XI selections have been successfully introduced since the application’s launch in June 2023. Looking ahead to the AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027™, more upgrades are in the pipeline to further deepen the AFC Live App’s appeal.
It was noted that the AFC's Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Fan Management system has acquired data from almost 600,000 fans worldwide since its launch in 2023, further strengthening relationships with supporters across the globe.
Meanwhile, the-AFC.com continued to serve as the leading source of comprehensive coverage for AFC competitions through match reports, features, interviews, video highlights and photo galleries, as well as regular updates on regional tournaments and domestic leagues across the AFC's Member Associations. With the AFC Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2027™ on the horizon, a refresh of the website will be implemented to boost fan traffic and interaction.
In addition, further updates in the areas of corporate communications, audiovisual and photography were also provided to the Committee.
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