Earlier this year, Qatar threw its hat in the ring to bid for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup. It is an event - the continent’s biggest national team tournament - that Qatar won handsomely in Jan-Feb in 2019.
A year or so after emerging as the champions of the continent, Qatar made it official that it sought to host the AFC Asian Cup for the third time. Qatar hosted Asia’s premier football tournament in 1988 and then again in January 2011, a few weeks after it successfully won the rights to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup at a historic FIFA vote in Zurich.
On Friday, the Qatar Football Association (QFA) submitted the third part of the bid file to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) underlining the government’s pledge of guarantees that are compatible with AFC’s ‘requirements for a successful bid’. The third part of the bid file reflects Qatar’s keen intent on utilizing the time-tested experience it has attained over the last two decades by hosting world-class sports events on a regular basis. In the latest pledge, Qatar said hosting the 24-team tournament - including 51 matches - will be completed with highest standards the AFC and FIFA expects from any host country of the AFC Asian Cup.
It is worth noting that in exactly two years’ time, Qatar will welcome the best teams in the globe for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The matches of FIFA’s premier football tournament will be played across eight state-of-the-start stadiums with cooling technology. Qatar has already completed three stadiums with another one set to be unveiled on December 18, 2020, when the Amir Cup final be played at Al Rayyan Stadium. The remaining stadiums will be completed before the end of 2021, one year ahead of schedule.
Qatar is currently hosting the AFC Champions League, East Zone, matches at three 2022 FIFA World Cup venues by creating ‘bubble-to-bubble’ environment for visiting players, coaching staff and delegates for the month-long event. In Sept-Oct, Qatar hosted the AFC Champions League, West Zone, matches in similar fashion drawing international praise from all those who visited Qatar for the matches.
In the third part of the bid file, Qatar has pledged to have ‘best possible facilities for players, fans and partners alike, in line with the values and global stature of the AFC Asian Cup 2027’. For a country which is set to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the decision-makers at AFC should have complete faith that Qatar will deliver a memorable edition of the 2027 Asian Cup. Qatar is the best bet for Asia’s top football event in 2027.
