Kuala Lumpur: AFC President Shaikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa and the entire Asian football family have expressed their deepest condolences on the passing of former Asian Football Confederation (AFC) General Secretary Dato' Sri Paul Mony Samuel who died on Saturday.
Dato' Sri Paul passed away after a long illness at the KPJ Damansara Specialist Hospital in Malaysia at the age of 71. He was known as an Asian football icon and his loss will be mourned all across the world of football.
The Asian Football Confederation will respect Dato' Sri Paul’s memory by a moment of silence at all AFC Champions League matches on April 19 and 20.
“The passing of Dato' Sri Paul is a great lost to me personally and to the whole Asian football family”, said Shaikh Salman.
“Dato' Sri Paul will be remembered as a dear friend, a passionate player, an inspiring coach, a dedicated football administrator and, most importantly, as a person who has given much of his life serving our beautiful game.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of late Dato' Sri Paul and we wish a lot of strength to his loved ones during these difficult and trying times.”
Dato' Sri Paul was born on August 8, 1944 and started his career as a teacher while also playing football for a premier league club in the Malaysian northern state of Kedah in the 1960s.
He later coached a premier league team in the 70's before his appointment as Assistant General Secretary of Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) in the early 80's.
In 1984 he was Executive Secretary of FAM, before becoming its General Secretary from 1985 to 2000. He was later appointed as the FIFA Kuala Lumpur Development Officer in 2000.
Dato' Sri Paul was also one of the reviving members of the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) whom he served as its General Secretary from 1995 to 2013, apart from his appointment as General Secretary of the AFC from 2007 to 2009.
His acumen as a top football administrator saw him involved in four FIFA World Cups – USA 1994, France 1998, Korea Republic-Japan 2002 and Germany 2006.
Dato' Sri Paul is survived by his wife Datin Sri Kristen Paul and 24-year-old son Andrew Paul.
Photo: AFC
Source: the-afc.com