BEIJING, Nov. 29 (Xinhua) -- China's Zhang Jilong was presented with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Diamond of Asia award by AFC President Shaikh Salman Bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa, in recognition of his service to football and the Confederation.

Born in 1952, Zhang has dedicated more than four decades of service to sport and football.

He joined the AFC in 1990 as a member of the AFC Rules and Regulations Committee and subsequently served as Chairman of the AFC Finance and Marketing, Technical and Competition Committees as well as the Organising Committee for the AFC Asian Cup.

"He became AFC Senior Vice-President in 2002 and under his guidance as Acting President of the AFC from 2011 to 2013, he laid the foundations for Asian football to continue on its path to success amidst the Confederation's most challenging period," the AFC official website writes on Wednesday.

Zhang also served as Director of the Sports Department for the Beijing Organising Committee for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, and was behind the introduction of the Grassroots Year in 2013, which paved the way for the AFC Grassroots Football Day.

In 2006, he became a member of the FIFA World Cup Committee and was awarded the prestigious FIFA Order of Merit in 2007, before serving on the FIFA Executive Committee from 2011 to 2015. Enditem

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