Asia warms to 39th-game proposal
Staging Premier League matches in Asia could boost the continent's standard of football, says its top administrator.
Asian Football Confederation president Mohamed Bin Hammam confirmed he is no longer opposed to AFC member states hosting English top-flight matches.
When the Premier League floated its 39th-game idea it drew huge criticism.
It is now up to them if they want to present fresh plans. I am willing to listen and give my advice," Bin Hammam told Sport.
"It's up to us to improve our level of football, but we would like the Premier League to help and support that process.
"There is a lot of knowledge the Premier League can transfer to us."
Bin Hammam was initially against the Premier League's 39th-game proposal where a round of matches would be played outside England.
But he has changed his mind after meeting senior Premier League officials and gaining assurances that they would seek Football Association, Uefa and Fifa approval before the AFC was asked to allow matches to be staged in its territories.
Bin Hammam told editor Mihir Bose: "The Premier League is a brand which has a huge fan-base across Asia, and I believe it has the will and initiative to help develop and support the game there."
Bin Hammam wants to improve the standard of Asian football to generate more income for AFC members and their leagues.
"You cannot stop fans from wanting to watch the best games, and the Premier League is one of the best football products in the world," he said.
"But the desire of broadcasters in Asia to screen Premier League matches rather than their local leagues is where the imbalance is happening.
"They are willing to pay tens of millions to show Premier League games but not a few thousand to show domestic matches.
"That might take years to change, and the Premier League can give us technical assistance and help improve the skills of our administrators, marketing and media staff."
On Tuesday, Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore said any deal to take the league overseas had to be based on 'real' games.
He told BBC Sport: "You can't patronise fans by playing meaningless matches and exhibition games for ever.
"The audience abroad is not silly. They are sophisticated and they want really meaningful matches."
