PTV - The president of the Islamic Republic of Iran's Football Federation (FFIRI) has been elected as a vice president of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

Ali Kaffashian was on Thursday elected as AFC’s vice president for the six-nation Central Asian Football Association (CAFA).

The election, which gives Iran a better representation in the continental body, will see Kaffashian replace Mirabror Usmanov of Uzbekistan.

The development came during AFC’s general congress in Bahraini capital of Manama, where Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim al Khalifa, himself a Bahraini, was re-elected unopposed as the body’s president for another four-year term.

Kaffashian, a former athlete with a major background in business and economy, has been heading FFIRI since March 2008. His election as AFC vice-president is expected to boost his position in the face of domestic criticism of his long drawn-out stint.