South Korean authorities on Wednesday sent the final required documentation for its bid to host the 2023 Asian Cup, tournament that has a good chance of organizing after China refused to do so due to the pandemic.
The Korea Football Association (KFA) has submitted all necessary documents, including contracts for the use of stadiums, to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), the South Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism confirmed on Monday.
An AFC delegation will conduct field inspections of the four candidates in September ahead of its executive committee meeting to decide on the host in Oct. 17.
Apart from South Korea, Candidates were submitted by Australia, Indonesia and Qatar.
However, the fact that the other three countries will host FIFA tournaments a year from now could complicate their chances.
Australia, host of the 2015 Asian Cup, will host the Women’s World Cup between July 20 and August 20 next year along with New Zealand; Indonesia hosts the men’s Under-20 World Cup from May 20 to June 11, next year, and Qatar (which hosted the 2011 Asian Cup) hosts the men’s World Cup starting in of 80 days.
The Australian federation has already said that, due to the Women’s World Cup, it will logistically not be able to host the Asian Cup if the dates are not moved to January and February 2024.
In the case of Qatar, due to the country’s climate, the Asian Cup must also be played in January-February, leaving the question of whether it will be at the beginning of 2023, just one month after the end of the 2022 World Cup, or 2024 . .
At the same time, doubts arose about the possibility of Indonesia’s candidacy, because if they win the tournament, they must hold the event in the summer, close to the U-20 World Cup.
CSouth Korea has not hosted the Asian Cup for 63 years and there aren’t any FIFA or AFC tournaments scheduled in the next 12 months, so many see it as a prime candidate to host a tournament in the summer of 2023.
South Korea dropped its original bid for the 2023 Asian Cup to focus on its project to co-host the 2023 Women’s World Cup with North Korea, which ultimately failed to materialize.
In June 2019, the AFC selected China to host the 2023 Asian Cup, which in May announced it would not host due to its strict “covid zero” policy.
Source: La Verdad
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