Saudi Arabia set to host 2027 Asian Cup after India withdraws

Saudi Arabia officially became the host of the 2027 AFC Asian Cup after India submitted its withdrawal to the Asian Football Confederation.

India has officially notified the Asian Football Confederation through the All India Football Federation of its decision to withdraw its bid from the AFC Asian Cup 2027 host selection process.

 After this withdrawal, the only Saudi bid to host the 2027 Asian Cup may remain.

The Asian Football Confederation will announce the decision to announce the host country on February 1.

The 2027 AFC Asian Cup will be the 19th edition of the Asian Cup organized by the Asian Football Confederation.

 The tournament will feature 24 national teams, including the host country, assuming the current format for the finals is maintained.

The host country will be selected by the AFC Conference at its next meeting in February 2023.

Last July, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) announced it has received expressions of interest from four national associations, to organize the 2023 AFC Asian Cup Finals.

The AFC had announced the opening of the door for expressing a desire to host all national federations, as of May 31, 2022.

Four member associations, namely Australia, Indonesia, South Korea, and Qatar, have responded and expressed their interest in bidding to host the tournament.

The deadline has been extended to July 15, 2022.

According to the hosting requests process system, the instructions for the hosting request were distributed to the national federations on July 17, 2022

The deadline for competing associations to submit nomination documents is before August 31, 2022.

A comprehensive evaluation of the competing files will be carried out by the administration in the AFC before the selection and announcement of the host country are made.