Korea has started to host the ‘2023 Asian Football Federation Asian Cup (Asian Cup)’ tournament in earnest. This is the second challenge in 63 years since the second tournament was held in Korea in 1960.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced on the 31st that the Korea Football Association would submit an application for the bid for the ‘2023 Asian Football Federation Asian Cup’ to the Asian Football Federation on the 15th of next month, including a bidding book, government guarantee, and stadium and training ground agreement.
As China returned its hosting rights to the Asian Cup in May this year due to COVID-19, the Asian Football Federation announced the procedure for selecting a new venue. Immediately following the announcement, the Korea Football Association officially announced the bid for the Asian Cup and submitted a letter of intent to the Asian Football Federation on June 30.
The Asian Cup is the most prestigious football tournament in Asia. Korea won the first championship in 1956, becoming the first Korean soccer player to win an international championship. In addition, the second tournament was held in Korea in 1960, and the Seoul Hyochang Stadium, which was newly established to hold the tournament, became a cradle for nurturing youth and amateur soccer in Korea.
In particular, following winning the 2nd tournament one following another, Korea won the championship four times in 60 years (1972, 1980, 1988, 2015). It is also a competition filled with aspirations.
In 2015, when he achieved the best performance in recent competitions, Heung-Min Son scored an equalizer just before the end of the second half and seemed to be approaching the long-awaited victory, but unfortunately, he was only runner-up by allowing an extra-time goal to host country Australia. At that time, players including Son Heung-min shed tears, many people remember.
Countries competing to host the 2023 Asian Cup include South Korea, Qatar, the host of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Australia, the host of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, and Indonesia, the host of the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup. is a country
Qatar has the advantage of being able to use the latest stadium facilities for the 2022 FIFA World Cup as it is. It has showcased sports infrastructure, advanced information technology (IT), and high-level citizenship and cultural capabilities to the world.
In addition, unlike Qatar and Australia, which have to change the tournament schedule to January 2024, the tournament can be held according to the existing schedule (June to July 2023). Considering that the venue was in the Middle East (United Arab Emirates), it also precedes the cause of the event in terms of regional arrangement.
In addition, while Korean culture (K-Culture) is receiving worldwide acclaim, Asian football is expected to combine with Korean culture to become a sports culture festival and to open a new horizon by raising the Asian Cup competition to the next level. The fact that the cheers and demand from many Asians, such as China and Japan, who are interested in Korean culture, along with the enthusiasm of the people, can lead to the success of the tournament is also evaluated as a sufficient strength.
The Asian Football Confederation on-site inspection will be held next month, and the venue will be finally decided on October 17th following going through the Asian Football Confederation Executive Committee.
In the future, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism will actively engage in foreign attraction activities such as responding to the due diligence of the Asian Football Federation together with the Korea Football Association and local governments scheduled to be held in the future. They decided to put all their efforts into hosting the first competition in 63 years.
Inquiries: International Sports Division, Sports Cooperation Center, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (044-203-3167)
