India shortlisted for 2027 football Asian Cup

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) announced that Qatar will host the Asian Cup 2023 in place of the tournament's original hosts, China.

Qatar became the new host after beating off competition from South Korea and Indonesia. The announcement came after China withdrew earlier this year because of its 'zero-Covid' policy.

"The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) executive committee on October 17 confirmed that the Qatar Football Association (QFA) is the host association for the AFC Asian Cup 2023," AFC said in a statement.

"The AFC Executive Committee also deliberated upon the bidding proposals for the AFC Asian Cup 2027™ and shortlisted the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and the Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF) as the final two bidders with the hosting decision to be taken by the AFC Congress at its next meeting in February 2023," the statement further read.

The decision brings to a close the bid proposal of the QFA who were considered to have withdrawn from the 2027 race following their successful 2023 bid in accordance with the applicable bidding regulations.
Australia withdrew from the AFC Asian Cup 2023 bidding process on September 1, 2022, while the Uzbekistan Football Association and the Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran officially withdrew their bids to host the AFC Asian Cup 2027 on December 14, 2020, and October 13, 2022, respectively.

(ANI)