India has submitted “the expression of interest (EOI)” to host the AFC 2031 Asian Cup, the centerpiece of the continent’s centerpiece said on Friday, the India football federation (AIFF) said on Friday. The AIFF was one of the seven national football organizations that submitted the EOI before the deadline of March 31. “Yes, we have submitted the EOI to accommodate the Asian Cup of the AFC 2031. Let’s see how it goes,” the assistant secretary general of the AIFF, M Satyanarayan told PTI. India will be confronted with difficult competition from the established football powers such as Australia, South Korea and the United Arab Emirates to obtain the right to welcome the tournament. Indonesia and Kuwait also submitted EOI while there is a joint offer from Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
The host country, which will be chosen in 2026, will obtain an automatic berth in the tournament. India finished finalists in the 1964 edition and was eliminated in the group phase in 1984, 2011, 2019 and 2023. The tournament began in 1956.
Of the seven countries of tender, Australia, the United Arab Emirates, South Korea and Kuwait previously welcomed the tournament.
Chair the meeting of the Executive Committee of the Confederation of Asian Football in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on the eve of the 35th AFC congress, President Shaikh Salman praised “the greatest number of EOIs received in modern history and attributed the exceptional reception to the growing prestige of the jewel of the Crown of Asia”. The AFC had sent invitations on November 27, 2024 so that all member associations express their interest in the reception of the most prestigious male team tournament in Asia. The deadline to submit EOI was March 31, 2025.
“The unprecedented level of interest we have attended reflects both the high ambitions of AFC member associations and their growing confidence in their own capacities and capacities to host a tournament as important as the AFC Asian Cup,” said Salman.
AFC will now work with the countries of tenders on the delivery of the necessary submission documentation in accordance with established deadlines and processes. A tender workshop should take place later this month.
Subsequently, a global assessment of offers will be undertaken by the AFC administration before the host selection for the competition of 24 teams by the AFC congress in 2026.
India has never organized the tournament, the equivalent of the continent of the World Cup. He had submitted offers to welcome 2023 and 2027 editions when Praful Patel was the president of AIFF.
The 2023 edition offer was withdrawn in 2018 and the same thing occurred in the case of the 2027 tournament.
In December 2022, a few months after holder Kalyan Chaubey took charge of the president of the AIFF, India withdrew his attempt to stage the AFC 2027 Asian Cup, declaring that the organization of big ticket events is not among his “strategic priorities” at this stadium.
The AIFF decision had left Saudi Arabia to be the only candidate to welcome the AFC 2027 Asian Cup, the 19th edition of the centerpiece of the continent.
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