Who will host 2023 Asian Cup?

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has announced that Qatar will host the 2023 Asian Cup.

Asian international soccer’s showpiece event is set to take place from 16th June to 16th July next year, although the AFC could move the tournament to a new date due to concerns over potentially extreme heat levels. 

The AFC will need Fifa’s approval to ensure the competition can be moved to a later time, which could cause a clash with the 2023/24 European club soccer season.

The 24-team event was originally set to be hosted by China, which had to then step aside due to the country’s strict policies towards the Covid-19 pandemic.

Qatar, who won the previous edition of the tournament in 2019, will now host the competition for a record third time, having beaten bids by South Korea and Indonesia to replace China as hosts.

“Qatar’s capabilities and track record in hosting major international sporting events and their meticulous attention to detail are well admired throughout the globe”, said AFC president Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa.

“Given the short lead time in preparation, 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.”

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World Cup hosts Qatar will stage the 2023 Asian Cup, the Asian Football Confederation said on Monday, after China withdrew earlier this year because of Covid.

"The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) executive committee has today confirmed the Qatar Football Association (QFA) as the host association for the AFC Asian Cup 2023," the Malaysia-based body said in a statement.

China in June 2019 won the bid to host the event but withdrew in May this year because of its "zero-Covid" policy, leaving the AFC scrambling to find a new host for its flagship men's 24-team football tournament.

The tournament had been due to be held in 10 Chinese cities from June 16 to July 16 next year.

China is the last major economy still trying to stamp out Covid-19 within its borders, through a series of harsh measures involving snap lockdowns, mass testing and travel restrictions.

The Asian Cup is staged every four years. Qatar won the tournament’s last edition, in 2019, which was hosted by the United Arab Emirates.

South Korea and Indonesia were the other two countries that participated in the bidding to host after China’s withdrawal.

Qatar will host the World Cup starting next month.

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Khalifa International Stadium in Doha after it was refurbished ahead of the Qatar 2022 FIFA World ... [+] Cup. (Photo by KARIM JAAFAR / AFP) (Photo by KARIM JAAFAR/AFP via Getty Images)

Qatar has been confirmed as the host nation of the 2023 AFC Asian Cup, beating competition from South Korea and Indonesia. The tournament, which will now most likely be shifted to early 2024, will take place in Qatar for the third time.

China had originally won the right to host the tournament, but pulled out due to its Covid-19 prevention policies.

Doha’s shiny new stadiums, ready for the 2022 World Cup, probably helped the small group of Asian Football Confederation committee members who chose the hosts justify their decision, but others will likely be questioning why Qatar gets to host Asia’s most prestigious soccer competition again just 13 years after it last hosted the Asian Cup.

FIFA boss Gianni Infantino often talks about growing the game, taking it outside of Europe to all corners of the world. But in Asia, it seems “growing the game” means holding every possible tournament in either Qatar, the United Arab Emirates or Saudi Arabia.

Qatar most recently hosted the Asian Cup in 2011. Qatar’s bid for the 2027 Asian Cup (which it has now pulled out after being awarded the 2023 tournament) describes Qatar 2011 as “a homerun” and “the best edition in the tournament’s history”.

Others didn’t give the tournament such glowing reviews. CNN says that “stadiums remained stubbornly empty” despite tickets costing as little as $5. Attendances can be low for the Asian Cup, but 2011’s average attendance was around 10,000 fewer than both the 2007 ASEAN tournament and Australia 2015. There were also reports of thousands of fans being shut out from the final by heavy-handed police.

Fans of Qatar walk to the stadium ahead of the Asian Cup 2011 (Photo by Matthew Ashton/AMA/Corbis ... [+] via Getty Images)

Qatar also hosted the Club World Cup in 2019 and 2020, the knockout stages and most of the group stage matches of the Asian Champions League in 2020 and the Asian Games in 2006. It will host the 2030 Asian Games, and is scheduled to host the Under-23 Asian Cup in early 2024, although this will likely be moved to make space for the Asian Cup.

Saudi Arabia and India are bidding for the 2027 Asian Cup, meaning that the Asian Cup could be played on the Arabian Peninsula for all the tournaments from 2011 to 2027 apart from Australia 2015.

The UAE, which held the most recent Asian Cup in 2019, has also hosted all the Club World Cup tournaments since 2017 that haven’t been in Qatar, while Saudi Arabia has hosted the Spanish and Italian super cups, is hosting the 2029 Asian Winter Games and 2034 Asian Games, and is looking to host the 2030 World Cup.

Qatar’s rival bids for 2023 were South Korea, which last hosted the competition in 1960, and Indonesia, which was one of four joint hosts in 2007, but has never hosted the tournament by itself.

The Asian Cup will likely be moved to winter, which comes in the middle of the European soccer calendar, meaning superstars like Son Heung-min and Mehdi Taremi will have to choose between club and country. In 2019, Son said fatigue had affected his performances in the tournament, which came at the end of a grueling year for the Tottenham Hotspur player. It also means that the tournament will have to compete with the Premier League and La Liga for TV audiences.

The 2023 Asian Cup will give Qatar’s stadiums a purpose once the 2022 World Cup has finished. But while the World Cup might have almost sold out, Qatar will have to do a lot better with its ticketing and promotion than it did in 2011 if it wants to make the 2023 Asian Cup a success and justify the AFC’s decision to award Qatar it’s most prestigious tournament yet again.

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