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Sheikh Salman’s Saipan visit postponed
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Posted on Feb 25 2019
Asian Football Confederation president Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa, seen here posing at the AFC Headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, plans to visit Saipan in the near future. (Asian Football confederation Photo)
The Saipan visit of Asian Football Confederation president, His Excellency, Sheikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa has been postponed due to Super Typhoon Wutip.
Northern Mariana Islands Football Association president Jerry Tan said he received a phone call from Sheikh Salman last Saturday, informing NMIFA that the AFC delegation won’t make it to the island this afternoon because of Wutip—which was upgraded to a category 5 super typhoon and brought heavy rains and flooding in Guam over the weekend. The typhoon, though did not hit Saipan directly, had the island placed under tropical storm watch since last Thursday and its size and scope are so big that it has brought strong winds and heavy downpour here since last Saturday. Sheikh Salman was scheduled to come to Saipan via Japan where several flights have also been canceled since last Saturday.
“Sheikh Salman has expressed his disappointment, as he and the rest of the AFC delegation could not visit us at this time. He vowed to visit us in the near future,” Tan said. “We wish Sheikh Salman and the other AFC officials safe travels, as they head back home and thank them for scheduling a visit to our beautiful island. We definitely look forward to hosting them and showing them our Hafa Adai spirit.”
Meanwhile, NMIFA would like to thank the Office of the Governor and other government agencies and officials and members of the CNMI football community for assisting the association in its preparations for Sheikh Salman’s visit. (NMIFA)
