Australia, Indonesia, South Korea and Qatar express interest in hosting 2023 AFC Asian Cup

The Asian Football Confederation has advised that it has received expressions of interest from foru nations - Australia, Indonesia, South Korea and Qatar - to host next year’s Asian Cup, which had originally been due to take place in China.

Following China having relinquished its hosting rights for the 2023 tournament in May, the AFC invited all member associations to express their interest in hosting its flagship men’s national team tournament, and four countries have put their names forward.

The bidding regulations were distributed to member associations in the middle of last month, and the four countries have until 31st August to submit their bid documents.

The AFC will then evaluate the bids and announce the host nation on 17th October.

Amid a decade of hosting a series of major international events leading up to the Brisbane Olympics in 2032, Australia is already due to co-host next year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup with New Zealand. That tournament is due to begin on 20th July, with the Asian Cup likely to be staged later in the year if Football Australia is successful in its bid to host the event.

Australia hosted the AFC Asian Cup as recently as 2015.

Qatar, which last hosted the Asian Cup in 2011. is due to host the men’s FIFA World Cup in November and December this year.

South Korea won the inaugural Asian Cup in 1956 and retained the trophy as hosts four years later - the only time they staged the finals. While the country has not staged a major football tournament since co-hosting the World Cup with Japan in 2002, it did express an interest in hosting the 2023 edition before withdrawing.

Indonesia, which co-hosted the tournament in 2007, successfully staged the Asian Games in 2018 after which it was speculated that it might submit a bid to host a future Olympics.

However, it did not compete at the 2019 AFC Asian Cup due to a ban by world football governing body FIFA over administration and corruption issues in the game.

China gave up hosting rights to the 2023 Asian Cup in May amid the continued challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic in the country. The competition had been scheduled for next July but the Chinese Football Association informed the AFC that they would not be in a position to host.

The Asian Games multi-sport event, which had been scheduled to take place in the Chinese city of Hangzhou in September, was also postponed due to the pandemic situation in the country.

Commenting on Australia’s potential hosting, a Football Australia spokesperson advised “our preference would be to host in February 2024 so we are not clashing with the FIFA WWC 2023.

"We are liaising with governments at all levels to gauge interest levels before contemplating a bid, as any events of this stature require significant government funding and support."

Australia hosting multiple World Cup events, the 2026 Commonwealth Games and the 2032 Olympics is the subject of a feature in Australasian Leisure Management issue 150.

Image: The Socceroos lift the AFC Asian Cup in 2015. Credit: VenuesLive.