Korea loses bid to host 2023 AFC Asian Cup

Football

Published: 17 Oct. 2022, 15:03

Korea loses bid to host 2023 AFC Asian Cup

Korean players react after the final whistle blows at the end of a 3-0 loss to Japan in the final game of the 2022 EAFF E-1 Football Championship at Toyota Stadium in Toyota, Japan on July 27. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

Qatar has been chosen as the host of the 2023 AFC Asian Cup, the continental football governing body announced Monday, beating Korea in the bid to host the tournament.

“The Asian Football Confederation Executive Committee has today confirmed the Qatar Football Association as the host association for the AFC Asian Cup 2023,” the AFC said in a statement on Monday.

“AFC President Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa congratulated the QFA on their successful bid and also conveyed the appreciation of the Asian football family to the Football Association of Indonesia and the Korea Football Association for their commendable proposals.”

China, the original host of the 2023 Asian Cup, withdrew in June due to the country’s Zero-Covid policy.

Later that month, the AFC called for interested parties to bid to take over as host for the tournament, which was scheduled to run from 16 June to 16 July next year, but that schedule will presumably change now that a hotter country has won the bid.

Korea, Indonesia and Qatar were the final bidders to host the tournament, after Australia withdrew its bid last month.

Korea had pulled out all the stops in the bid to host the tournament, lining up football stars like Son Heung-min and other Korean celebrities including BTS to endorse the bid, as well as running an advertising campaign throughout the recent international break.

Korea was relying on the infrastructure from the 2002 World Cup in its bid, while Qatar obviously has the infrastructure in place with the 2022 World Cup set to take place in the Middle Eastern country in December this year. Qatar has also hosted multiple Club World Cups and the IAAF World Championships in recent years, so it's stadiums are tried and tested and should be up to date.

Like the World Cup, however, an Asian Cup held in Qatar will presumably need to be held in the winter, when temperatures are slightly more bearable. That would force the tournament to be held in the middle of the European league seasons, a level of disruption that Korea had hoped might rule out the Qatari bid.

“Given the short lead time in preparation,” Al Khalifa said, “we know that the hard work begins immediately but with their existing world-class infrastructure and unrivalled hosting capabilities, we are confident that Qatar will stage a worthy spectacle befitting the prestige and stature of Asia’s crown jewel.”

Qatar last hosted the Asian Cup in January 2011. Korea finished in third place.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]