“Asia Cup 2027”… in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia won the hosting of the “Asia Cup 2027”. Gianni Infantino, President of the International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA), expressed his confidence that the Kingdom will “host a wonderful edition” of the tournament. And the AFC General Assembly announced, at its meeting in Manama yesterday, that Saudi Arabia has officially won the hosting of the 2027 Asian Cup, after the Saudi file continued as a single candidate. Saudi Arabia won 43 votes out of 45, while Palestine and Turkmenistan abstained from voting.

This came after the withdrawal of Uzbekistan, Iran and India, and the exclusion of Qatar from the competition due to its hosting of the next edition in early 2024. According to the Saudi file, Riyadh will build two stadiums in Qiddiya and north of the capital, while a new stadium will be built in Jeddah, as well as in Dammam, east of the country. Saudi Arabia has not hosted the tournament since its inception in the past fifties.

In addition, the Bahraini Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim retained the presidency of the Asian Federation for the last four years, while the Lebanese Hashim Haider was elected vice-president for the West Asian region. The association also chose Yasser Al-Mishal, President of the Saudi Federation, as a member of the FIFA Council for the period from 2023 to 2027. The President of the Qatari Federation, Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, was elected as a member of the FIFA Council. They were joined by Japanese Kozo Tashima, Filipino Mariano Araneta and Malaysian Haji Muhammad Amin. Kania Keumani, from Laos, won the women’s seat on the FIFA Council.
… More