The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has confirmed that the UAE will host the 2019 Asian Cup after unanimously beating off competition from Iran to stage the continent’s premier football tournament.
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The announcement was made on the AFC’s official Twitter account following its executive committee meeting in Manama, Bahrain, on Monday morning.
It is expected that the event in four years’ time will see the tournament increased from 16 nations to 24.
Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Oman and Kuwait had all bid for the event, with China and Bahrain withdrawing after showing initial interest.
“The UAE won the right unanimously,” AFC chief Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa said.
We are pleased to announce that the United Arab Emirates will host the AFC #AC2019
— The-AFC.com (@theafcdotcom) March 9, 2015
“I would like to congratulate the UAE FA on their successful bid to host the AFC Asian Cup 2019.
“The AFC Executive Committee was convinced by the merits of the UAE bid. I firmly believe that the UAE FA will host a tournament that could match and potentially even surpass the stunning AFC Asian Cup 2015 in Australia that we have all just witnessed.”
AFC officials visited the UAE last month for final inspections of the proposed stadia, with six AGL grounds put forward as venues across Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Al Ain.
It will be the first time since 1996 that the Emirates have hosted the Asian Cup and the UAE will be hoping for a repeat of their run to the final that year, although they fell just short against Saudi Arabia in the showpiece.
That event was held across just three stadiums in the UAE, with sporting infrastructure in its early stages of development at the time.
This year’s edition saw Mahdi Ali’s UAE team finish third after being beaten in the semi-final by eventual winners, and hosts, Australia.
FIFA Under-20 and Under-17 World Cups in 2003 and 2013 have previously been held in the UAE, as has the FIFA Club World Cup in 2009 and 2010. The country’s sports council is also bidding for the FIFA Club World Cups in 2017 and 2018.
The latter would be played one month before the 2019 Asian Cup.
