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Tag: 2023 Asian Cup

  • South Korea, Australia amongst 4 nations in search of to host 2023 Asian Cup: AFC

    South Korea, Australia, Indonesia and Qatar have submitted ‘Expressions of Interest’ to exchange China as hosts of subsequent yr’s Asian Cup, the Asian Football Confederation stated on Monday.

    The deadline for the 4 associations to submit their bid paperwork has been set for Aug. 31, and the AFC’s government committee will announce the brand new host on October 17, it stated.

    China was as a result of host the 24-team occasion, scheduled for June and July subsequent yr, however the nation’s efforts to comply with a zero-COVID-19 coverage resulted in it being moved.

    South Korea received the inaugural Asian Cup in 1956 and retained the trophy as hosts 4 years later – the one time they staged the finals. The nation has not staged a serious match since co-hosting the World Cup with Japan in 2002.

    Australia, Asian Cup winners in 2015, already has a busy 2023 deliberate as co-hosts of the Women’s World Cup with New Zealand. That match begins on July 20 subsequent yr.

    Football Australia chief government James Johnson stated earlier this month the governing physique had consulted with the AFC to think about transferring the Asian Cup to later within the calendar to keep away from a conflict with the World Cup.

    Qatar will stage the boys’s World Cup this yr from November 21 to December 18. They have hosted the Asian Cup twice, in 1988 and 2011, and received the match in 2019.

    Indonesia had been one among 4 co-hosts of 2007 Asian Cup and exited within the group stage – their finest end within the match.

    Japan’s Football Association confirmed in May that they had been informally approached about the opportunity of changing China as hosts however technical director Yasuharu Sorimachi informed native media earlier this month there was little likelihood of it bidding.

  • China withdrawal may see 2023 Asian Cup heading west

    China’s withdrawal from internet hosting the 2023 Asian Cup may see the showpiece shift west to the Gulf, the place new infrastructure and voracious demand for main occasions has made the area a magnet for worldwide tournaments.

    Having deliberate to carry the Asian Cup throughout 10 cities in June-July subsequent yr, China dropped the 24-team event resulting from “exceptional circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic”, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) mentioned over the weekend.

    The AFC mentioned it will title a brand new host sooner or later however offered no element and declined to supply rapid remark to Reuters.

    AFC member nations have been in the dead of night on Monday in regards to the subsequent steps.

    “This is quite an unusual situation and so there’s no specific process that we are aware of on how things could go,” a spokesperson for the Korean Football Association (KFA) instructed Reuters.

    “We just know that China has given up.”

    The AFC has little time to appraise candidates and will not have a various set to select from.

    Governing physique Football Australia declined to touch upon whether or not it will put up its hand to switch China however referred to its busy calendar in 2023 as co-hosts of the Women’s World Cup with New Zealand, which begins on July 20.

    All India Football Federation common secretary Kushal Das mentioned India, which held the 2022 girls’s Asian Cup this yr, was specializing in its bid for the 2027 males’s event and had not expressed curiosity in stepping in for 2023.

    South Korea, which initially misplaced out on its 2023 bid to China, had no touch upon internet hosting however mentioned it will require additional session with dwelling authorities.

    “Basically, to host an international game …. firstly there should be talks with the government and the local authorities, but we haven’t heard or held any discussions on that yet,” the KFA spokesperson mentioned.

    Apart from India, reigning Asian Cup champions Qatar, Iran and Saudi Arabia have all expressed an curiosity or submitted bids for 2027.

    Qatar hosts the 2022 World Cup from Nov. 21 at a raft of purpose-built stadiums and could also be greatest positioned to fit in for the Asian Cup.

    The 1988 and 2011 Asian Cup hosts, Qatar’s ambitions of changing into a world sporting hub have been backed by its ruling emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and underpinned by its fuel wealth.

    It might come too quickly for Saudi Arabia, which has made an aggressive entry into the worldwide sport internet hosting market lately. The Saudi bid for 2027 included the constructing of three new stadiums and enlargement of three current venues.

    The area’s searing summers would imply each Qatar and Saudi Arabia would want to ask the AFC to maneuver the event to cooler months later within the yr or in early-2024.

    Should few clear alternate options emerge, the AFC would probably show accommodating to such a request, sending the event again to the Gulf 4 years after the 2019 version within the United Arab Emirates.