Premiership's 39th Game Gets Backing!

Mohammed Bin Hammam, president of the Asian Football Confederation, wants to see the 20 Premier League clubs play an extra round of matches in foreign cities over one weekend in January.

A final decision has yet to be taken by the clubs, who have asked Premier League officials to explore a number of options aimed at international expansion.

Bin Hammam: "I had a chance to talk to the Premier League and I told them, 'If you want to come to Asia I will welcome you. I don't have a problem with that. Fans in Asia they love to see your football.'

"I would welcome the Premier League playing in Asia but I would like to see the Premier League come to me through their national association or their confederation.

"In football, that structure has to be maintained otherwise we are going to have chaos.

"If that happens, I will be the first one to welcome them. This is the only way. We can't accept it any differently in Asia.

"Yes there is a lot of money in football and a few clubs are getting the biggest share of this income from TV and sponsorship but this shouldn't stop us from doing things in the right way."

The Premier League welcomed Bin Hammam's remarks.

A league spokesman said: "We are still working on what might be feasible in terms of taking meaningful Premier League games abroad, but whatever we decide to do in this area it will be in partnership with appropriate federations and national associations.

"In the meantime we respect and appreciate the comments expressed by AFC President, Mohammed Bin Hammam."