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Breaking: AIFF withdraw bid to host Asian Cup in 2027, Saudi Arabia remain lone bidder

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) announced on Monday that they will withdraw their bid to host the Asian Cup in 2027.

Kalyan Chaubey AIFF

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) announced on Monday that they will withdraw their bid to host the AFC Asian Cup in 2027. Thus, Saudi Arabia remains the lone bidder for the tournament. Iran and Uzbekistan also withdrew their bid in October and India has followed their path.

India was in the fray to host the continental tournament five years from time, but AIFF has released a statement saying hosting big-ticket events is not their 'strategic priority' at this time.

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"The Executive Committee of the All India Football Federation has decided to withdraw its bid to host the AFC Asian Cup 2027. As per the strategic Roadmap of the Federation, which will be announced later this month, the AIFF management thinks the hosting of big events doesn't fit into the Federation's strategic priorities," the statement said.

The statement further added that the committee's primary focus is to build proper infrastructure for the game at grassroots levels and taking a step like hosting Asian Cup is beyond their vision at this moment.

"India has always been a wonderful and efficient host to big tournaments, which was amply demonstrated in the recently concluded FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup. However, the EC has decided that the overall strategy of the Federation currently remains on focusing on the fundamental goals to strengthen our football at every level from grassroots to youth development. At the same time, we must also strengthen our stakeholders, especially the State Associations and work closely with the clubs to bring about a change in every aspect of football at the domestic level. All such aspects will truly be implemented when the Roadmap is announced later this month," the AIFF President Kalyan Chaubey said.

Kalyan Chaubey recently took the reins from former president Praful Patel. The AIFF elections were done after FIFA's sanction on India earlier this year.

"Our strategy is very simple. We must focus on developing the game on a priority basis, before planning to host major international competitions. Hosting competitions requires big resources and sometimes encourages the tendency to take the major issues away from our focus. Right now, our focus should be to take Indian Football forward together," secretary general Shaji Prabhakaran concluded.

Story first published: Monday, December 5, 2022, 15:47 [IST]
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