With India’s withdrawal, Qatar is the only country to have lodged an official bid. Iran, the only other nation to have expressed an interest in hosting finals failed to submit their formal bid in time for last week’s deadline.
Despite being the only country to formally lodge a bid, Qatar's submission must meet all the requirements stipulated by the AFC before it can be ratified as host, otherwise the bidding process will be reopened.
Qatar previously hosted the AFC Asian Cup in 1988 and Qatar Football Association general secretary Saud Al Mohannadi is confident the Gulf state will meet the requirements.
“We successfully hosted the Asian Games in December last year which shows our abilities as a host of major international events,” Al Mohannadi said. “We have been hosting top football events and our facilities are ready to host the event even today.”
Submitted by Matthew Glendinning on Mon, 02/07/2007 - 08:43
Qatar is hot favourite to host the 2011 Asian Football Confederation Asian Cup now that India has formally withdrawn its interest in hosting the event.
