The UAE Football Association outlined their bid to host the 2019 Asian Cup last night, which would include a brand new 60,000-seat stadium in Dubai.
The Dubai Sports Council (DSC) funded facility is expected to be ready by 2018 and would be located close to Dubai Sports City, where games would also be played at the Cricket Stadium.
A smaller 25,000-seat stadium currently under construction in Sports City will also be included as a stand-by venue.
With the 2019 tournament set to be expanded to 24 teams, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) require bidding nations to have six suitable stadia and an eight-man delegation, headed by Dr Tran Quoc Tuan, were also shown potential venues in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain.
The capital plans to hold games at Zayed Sports City and the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium, while the Garden City would stage matches at the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium and Khalifa International Stadium.
The UAE are competing against bids from Iran, Saudi Arabia and Thailand for the right to host the Asian Cup for the second time, and first since 1996, but UAEFA board member Yousef Khouri believes their experience at hosting top class sporting events gives them an advantage.
“The last time we hosted this event was in 1996 and after that we longed to host it again,” he said. “The UAE is known for hosting big events in all areas, especially football.”
The UAE most recently hosted the FIFA Under-17 World Cup last winter, and Al Khouri added: “I think by the end of the year we could host the 2015 Asian Cup, but I hope we will be lucky and host the 2019 Asian Cup.”
The delegation returns to Malaysia today before they visit Thailand, Saudi Arabia and Iran in April.
They will then file their reports on each country in May, when the official bids have to be submitted.
There is scope for a second inspection with the decision on who will host the 2019 Cup expected at November’s AFC Executive Committee meeting.
