Summary: Football Asia is back on the front burner as football correspondent and editor of Kick Off Asia John Duerden gives us the rundown of all the major stories and developments across the largest federation in world football, from the politics to the start of new leagues seasons and competitions and tournaments all across the AFC. At the top of the agenda is the search for new president of the AFC in the messy aftermath of the Mohammed Bin Hammam tenure in that post, where several candidates have emerged in advance of the elections on May 2nd. These include Yousef Al Serkal of the United Arab Emirates, Worawi Makdudi of Thailand and Hafez Al Medlej of Saudi Arabia - all former associates of Bin Hammam - and Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, head of the Bahrain Football Association, who was narrowly defeated four years ago by Bin Hammam in his bid for a seat on the FIFA Executive Committee. Acting AFC chairman Zhang Jilong has failed to announce his candidacy and we examine how this may actually impact the race, who has the most to gain and whether Sheikh Salman appears to have the legs to get the votes outside of his own region. We also examine Alessandro Del Piero after year on in the A-League, the beginning stages of the AFC Champions League and take a quick glance at Fourth Round of AFC World Cup qualification for Brazil 2014 with just a couple of matches remaining - who sits in the drivers seat and who could be left behind. China is also front and center here as we review a match fixing scandal that finally resulted in 58 bans handed down by FIFA nearly a decade after the offenses occurred and we even discuss the emergence of a new West Asian star in Omar Abdul Rahman of UAE who has exploded at Emirati side Al Ain and could be a serious regional force on the rise.
