According to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Football Association, the AFC Secretariat sent an official letter on the same day that the deadline for submitting the bid application was postponed to September 15.
The work schedule of the Football Association, which was supposed to deliver official applications including bid plans (bidding book), government guarantees, and stadium/training agreements, to AFC on that day was also changed.
An official from the Football Association said, “The date has not been confirmed yet, but we plan to submit the application around the deadline, September 15.”
The AFC delivered the urgently decided postponement of the application submission deadline to the Football Association through an unofficial route late the followingnoon of the previous day, and the official letter was only sent on that day.
The 2023 Asian Cup was originally scheduled to be hosted by China, but in May of this year, the AFC searched for a new venue following returning the hosting rights due to the spread of the new coronavirus infection (COVID-19).
The Korea Football Association submitted a letter of intent to AFC on June 30, announcing the bid for the Asian Cup, and is competing with Qatar, Australia and Indonesia.
Qatar will host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Australia will host the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, and Indonesia will host the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup.
In particular, Qatar has the great advantage of being able to use the 2022 FIFA World Cup facilities as they are.
Korea is proud of its legacy of successfully hosting three major international sports events: the 2002 FIFA Korea-Japan World Cup, the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics, and the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.
Also, unlike Qatar and Australia, which have to change the tournament schedule to January 2024, the fact that the tournament can be held according to the existing schedule (June to July 2023) is another strength that Korea is promoting.
Considering that the venue for the previous event, 2019, was the Middle East (United Arab Emirates), the reason for hosting the event takes precedence in terms of regional arrangement.
After receiving applications from the four countries, AFC plans to conduct an on-site inspection in September and decide the venue on October 17th through the AFC Executive Committee.
yunhap news
