Kuala Lumpur, October 17 (QNA) – HE President of Qatar Football Association (QFA) Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Ahmed Al-Thani said that Qatar has all the possibilities to host the 2023 AFC Asian Cup.
In statements to press today, His Excellency said that after the withdrawal of China, which apologized last May for the lack of organization due to its policy to limit the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, Qatar’s duty became to apply to host the 2023 AFC Asian Cup.
HE QFA President added that the situation on the Asian continent required Qatar to be at the heart of an event like the Asian Cup, especially since Qatar will organize the World Cup from November 20, thus taking advantage of the potential, facilities and stadiums that host the World Cup at the continental level.
His Excellency continued that the State of Qatar has confirmed from the very beginning that the World Cup will be for Arab brothers and friends on the Asian continent, which Qatar represents in this edition, and therefore the Arab teams were the first to play on the World Cup stadiums by holding the FIFA Arab Cup Qatar 2021, while the Asian teams will benefit from the World Cup stadiums when they compete in the biggest continental competition on the same stadiums during a time interval that will not be long after the World Cup.
The AFC Executive Office has decided to assign the hosting of the 18th edition of the AFC Asian Cup to the State of Qatar after a competition with the files of South Korea and Indonesia, during a meeting held today by the Executive Office at the AFC headquarters in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur.
The tournament was scheduled to be held in 10 Chinese cities during the period from June 16 to July 16 of next year 2023 with the participation of 24 teams, before Qatar was chosen to host the event for the 3rd time in its history after the 1988 and 2011 editions, where the Qatari file gained satisfaction from the members of the Executive Office, chiefly that the continental championship will follow the historic hosting of the FIFA Qatar 2022 World Cup for the first time in the history of the Arab region and the Middle East, with giant facilities and stadiums, seven of which were built specifically for the event.
(QNA)