ABU DHABI, May 19 / WAM / With China’s sudden apology for not hosting the 2023 AFC Asian Cup due to the effects of the Corona pandemic, mystery has clouded the fate of this version that is looking for the “savior” host, whose identity is likely to be revealed by the Asian Football Confederation. as soon as possible.
China recently surprised everyone by announcing that it would not host this edition due to the Corona pandemic, despite the enormous preparations it had made to host the tournament in ten different cities during the period from June 16 to July 16, 2023.
And the AFC said in its statement regarding China’s apology for not hosting: The AFC recognizes the exceptional circumstances caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, which led to China relinquishing the right to host..
China is set to host the 2023 AFC Asian Cup on June 5, 2019. The 24-team competition was scheduled to be hosted in 10 Chinese cities from June 16 to July 16, 2023.
The AFC confirmed that it would announce the new venue for the hosting at a later time, which it did not specify, and officials of the Federation refused to provide any details in this regard, so that the fate of this version, which was scheduled to be the second hosting for China following the 2004 edition, was shrouded in mystery.
During the 32nd General Assembly (Congress) of the Asian Football Confederation, the decision of China to withdraw from the organization was reviewed, and the Executive Office of the Federation was authorized to choose an alternative host “following the process of submitting nomination files through the AFC administration.”
Only 13 months remain until the scheduled date of the tournament, which means that the new host must be one of the countries that have ready stadiums and are able to organize following one year, and perhaps less, to grant them the right to host.
Therefore, the options seem to be very limited and controlled by some factors, including that the Asian Confederation has in recent editions alternated the right of hosting between the countries of the East and West of the continent, where the 2007 edition was held jointly between Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, then the 2011 edition in Qatar, while Australia hosted the tournament in 2015 and won The Emirates with the honor of organizing the last edition in 2019.
But the exceptional circumstance of the next edition may push the AFC to overlook this alternation between East and West in search of the country most ready to host, with the need to obtain the support of trading partners and sponsors.
Among the factors that will affect the fate of hosting this edition is also that it will be held in the middle of the year, where the high temperature in the Arab Gulf states in the west of the continent, which may require special specifications in the new host.
In the eastern region, the options seem limited to Australia, South Korea and Japan, but Australia’s co-organization with New Zealand for the Women’s World Cup will certainly prevent that, especially since the Women’s World Cup will be held from July 20 to August 20, 2023, with an interval not exceeding four days from the date scheduled for the Asian Cup.
Japan was the only one that hinted at the possibility of applying for the right to host, but this was not officially announced.
Kozo Tashima, president of the Japan Football Association, said in a press statement that the AFC contacted his country to host this edition following China’s apology, and stressed that if this was done, it would be undoubtedly exciting.
At the same time, South Korea has not yet expressed its desire to host this edition, knowing that the only hosting of South Korea was in the second edition of the Asian Cup in 1960, while Japan hosted the tournament once also when it hosted the tenth edition in 1992.
And if any of the two countries applies for hosting in the coming period, it may have priority given that both of them have many stadiums ready to host a tournament of this size, where it will be held with the participation of 24 teams.
While some reports indicated that India may be among the candidates to host this edition in light of the readiness of a number of stadiums, especially following hosting the Asian Women’s Cup early this year, and expressing a desire to host the Asian Cup in 2027, Indian Federation officials indicated that they do not intend to apply to host The 2023 version that China apologized for.
In the West Asian, following the Emirates hosted the last edition with great success only three years ago, the options became limited between Saudi Arabia and Qatar, with each of them owning ready-made stadiums capable of hosting.
However, some reports indicated that Saudi Arabia does not intend to submit a request to host this edition, even if the officials of the Saudi Game Federation did not announce this officially.
In the event that Qatar applies for the right to host, its chances will be good, as there are eight ready-made stadiums equipped with cooling technologies, which are the stadiums that will host the World Cup at the end of this year.
However, the AFC may resort to searching for other alternatives by changing the date of the tournament by postponing it for several months, which provides the opportunity for more than one country to make more preparations and equipment to host the tournament, in addition to removing the high temperature factor.
