Bahrain withdraw: BAHRAIN have withdrawn their bid to host the 2019 AFC Asian Cup, reports PATRICK SALOMON. This was announced last night by Bahrain Football Association (BFA) vice-president for administrative and financial affairs Ahmed Al Nuaimi. Bahrain have pulled out to make way for the other GCC national federations who are interested in hosting the quadrennial Asian Football Confederation (AFC) showcase, according to Al Nuaimi. Bahrain's untimely withdrawal leaves only seven countries still vying to host the Asian Cup, including China, Iran, Oman, Thailand, and neighbouring GCC nations Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Bahrain's interest in hosting the event was a result of the kingdom's successful hosting of the 21st Gulf Cup, held in January of this year. It was then soon announced that the BFA had submitted its initial application to stage the mega 16-nation event, and only recently had sent in to the AFC further requirements for the application process. The 2019 tournament will be the 17th edition of the competition. The winning bid is expected to be announced at the next AFC Asian Cup in January 2015, to be held in Australia. http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/NewsDetails.aspx?storyid=360604
So, both Bahrain and China officially withdrew their bids to host the 2019 AFC Asian Cup. The Saudi bid appears to be under scrutiny and it's becoming increasingly unlikely for Saudi Arabia to host the 2019 edition as well. Uzbekistan didn't submit a bid in the first place, despite showing interest last year, so that rules out another potential favorite. So, this leaves us with Iran, Kuwait, the UAE and a few more countries. I don't think Iran will get it. The Iranian bid will probably face the same criticism(s) that the Saudi bid faced. I think it will be decided between Kuwait and the UAE. I'd love to see the Asian Cup in Kuwait, but I wouldn't mind the UAE either, since it's a wonderful country to visit.
No chance of Iran hosting it, for the reason Kutsuit said. So it leaves Kuwait and UAE. Im betting on co-hosting.
There will of course now be 24 teams at the 2019 Asian Cup, with a radically overhauled system of qualification which will be combined with the opening rounds of World Cup qualification. http://www.goal.com/en-sg/news/3952/asia/2014/01/27/4573620/afc-announce-asian-cup-expansion Given how farcical some of the recent Asian Cup qualifying rounds have been, I see the format change for the qualification as a positive - no qualification for Challenge Cup winners who prove to be out of their depth at the Finals, no exclusion of weaker teams from main qualifying process, no middle teams missing out in main qualification only to see weaker teams qualify through an easier tournament. The expansion to 24 teams is another matter though. Can Asian football really sustain a 24 team Finals? There is a spread of quality at the top with several teams relatively evenly matched, a number of decent teams below that who can match the best on the day occasionally, and then the quality drop of dramatically. It seems a step too far to me. Any thoughts? This obviously has an impact on who can host the tournament too. Official bids for 2019 are now only from Iran, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Thailand. Saudi are the only one of those not to have hosted before, Iran and Thailand both having twice hosted. But Saudi would be a controversial choice for a whole host of reasons of course. Perhaps UAE are the most likely given cost implications and sufficient facilities for 24 teams? Bahrain had already withdrawn, but a 24 team tournament would seem rather unlikely to go to such a small country.
Co-hosting? Kuwait and UAE do not border, and are not that close to each other.... it's at least an 11 hour drive between Abu Dhabi and Kuwait City, add a couple more if driving from Dubai, Al Ain, etc... but the real killer is the majority of that is through Saudi Arabia, which requires additional visa complications, which means you really need to fly between countries. What is Kuwait's stadium situation like btw? Whenever I watch games there, they seem to be played on really bumpy fields and the stadia don't look that modern or big. Anyway just wondering. Would like to see UAE host, but they did get the cup recently, well 1996 lol but that does seem like just yesterday to us geeezers ;-)
24 nations might be a stretch, and some big scorelines, based on the current fifa rankings, the top 24 AFC nations are as follows: Some interesting nations have creped into the top 24! 1 Iran 2 Japan 3 Uzbekistan 4 South Korea 5 Jordan 6 UAE 7 Iraq 8 Oman 9 China 10 Qatar 11 Australia 12 Saudi Arabia 13 Bahrain 14 Palestine 15 Kuwait 16 Lebanon 17 Philippines 18 Tajikistan 19 Afghanistan 20 Vietnam 21 Myanmar 22 Turkmenistan 23 Maldlives 24 North Korea
whether the rankings are accurate or reliable source, it is in most cases the sole provider in grouping World Cup seedings, Uefa and AFC qualifiers... whether we agree or not about the format or the point system, its the FIFA rankings and its an official source (unfortunately or fortunately)