Saudi Arabia has become the only candidate to host the 2027 Asian Cup of Nations, after the other competitor, India, withdrew its candidacy, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) announced on Monday.
In a statement, the AFC confirmed that the Indian Football Association withdrew from the selection process, without giving any reason for the withdrawal.
The proposals from India and Saudi Arabia were selected by the AFC’s executive committee in October and a final decision was expected to be made at a regional congress in February.
The Asian Nations Cup brings together 24 teams and takes place every four years.
Qatar won the last edition of the tournament, in 2019, which took place in the United Arab Emirates.
Qatar, host of the 2022 soccer World Cup, will host the 2023 Asian Nations Cup after China pulled out in May due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the AFC announced in October.
South Korea and Indonesia were the other two countries that entered the dispute to host the final phase of the continental tournament after the resignation of China.
The organization of the 2023 edition had been assigned to China in June 2019 and the competition was supposed to take place in 10 Chinese cities, between June 16 and July 16 next year.
But in May of this year, China gave up hosting the event, due to the increase in Covid-19 cases in the country.
Source: TSF
