On June 29, Beijing time, according to the official release of the AFC, it can be learned that they extended the deadline for submitting the letter of intent to bid for the Asian Cup, from the original June 30 to July 15, which is an extra half a month. So the reason why Salman extended the time to submit the letter of intent is obviously that he was helpless, because there are very few countries that have shown a strong willingness to host the Asian Cup. From the current situation, only two countries have applied at this stage, one is the Korean Football Association and the other is the Australian Football Association.
It is reported that the Korean Football Association has submitted a letter of intent to host, and said that it can hold the Asian Cup within the time limit stipulated by the AFC, and as for the match venue, the Korean Football Association will use the existing professional stadium in the city, and the Korean Football Association has also received support from the government. In contrast, the Australian Football Association's hosting advantage is very weak. Not only is it not supported by its own government, but the Australian Football Association also needs to host the 2023 Women's World Cup. Therefore, in terms of time, the Australian Football Association does not have the conditions to hold it, unless the AFC agrees to change the start time of the Asian Cup.
You know, as the top football event in Asia, the Asian Cup is currently only officially bid by the Football Association, which will inevitably make the AFC very embarrassed. However, there is an idiom in China called "there is a reason for the incident", and the reason why the AFC is facing such an embarrassing situation is directly related to the harsh requirements put forward by the AFC. The reason given by the AFC to cancel the Asian Cup in China at the beginning was that the Chinese Football Association could not meet the requirement of opening all competition venues, but looking around, there were very few national football associations that could meet this requirement.
In addition, the AFC also looks down on Vietnam, India, Malaysia and other countries, believing that they will not bring good benefits by holding the Asian Cup, so now the AFC can only beg for itself. Then again, if the asian cup is finally hosted by a choice between South Korea and Australia, the former will inevitably be more likely to win than the latter, mainly for the following reasons. First, South Korea has world-class star Son Heung-min, and in terms of his influence, he will certainly be able to better promote the Asian Cup. Second, the South Korean men's football team is the hegemon of Asia, which can directly avoid the tragedy of the home team being eliminated too early and leading to the weakening of fan interest.
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