The separation of the zone, which was initially approved by the member associations at the AFC Extraordinary Congress in São Paulo, Brazil in June, increases the number of zones from four to five.

Grouped together in the south zone are seven rapidly developing football nations - Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka - while the central zone is made up of six more-established countries - Iran, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

"We have taken steps to strengthen our statutes and as a part of that process you unanimously decided to separate south-central into two zones when we last met in São Paulo," said AFC President Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa of Bahrain. 

"I am confident that this is a positive step for the development of the game."

Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein, the FIFA vice-president for Asia, who is standing to become President of world football's governing body in May, was in attendance at the AFC Extraordinary Congress in Melbourne, Australia ©Getty Images



In another amendment, the number of AFC Executive Committee members has increased from 24 to 25, allowing for an additional female representative.

As of the next AFC elections, five of the 25 members will be female.

At last year's AFC Extraordinary Congress, Sheikh Salman scored a major political victory after members voted to merge his role with that of FIFA vice-president, a position currently held by Prince Ali Bin Al Hussein.

Earlier this week, Prince Ali, an AFC Executive Committee member, announced his intention to stand as a candidate for FIFA Presidency in May and challenge incumbent Sepp Batter. 

Both Sheikh Salman's and Prince Ali's positions with the AFC are up for re-election this year where it is widely expected that the former will be elected for a further four years, thus securing him a place on the FIFA Executive Board.

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