The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) for the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023 have jointly confirmed, that the continent’s greatest football competition will be held from January 12 to February 10, 2024.
OFFICIAL DRAW
The official draw ceremony will be held at the Katara Opera House in Doha on May 11, 2023, with the official match schedule also expected to be unveiled shortly after the draw.
QATAR 2022 STADIUMS
The tournament will be staged across eight stadiums, six of which were venues for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. These are Al-Bayt, Al-Janoub, Ahmed bin Ali, Al-Thumama, Education City, Khalifa International, Jassim bin Hamad and Abdullah bin Khalifa stadiums.
SPECTACULAR EXPERIENCE
The AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023 will be held across 30 days – two more than the 2019 edition in the UAE – as part of efforts to enhance the experience for fans who will be watching Asia’s top 24 nations compete and raise the stature and commercial value of the competition.
RELOCATED FROM CHINA
The re-arranged AFC Asian Cup was initially scheduled to be played in China this year, “Following China’s withdrawal of its hosting rights due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation there, we saw it as a duty for Qatar to step up,” said QFA President Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani.
He added, “We believed that Asian football needed us to put forward our bid, especially since we are already prepared for the FIFA World Cup 2022. We hosted the FIFA Arab Cup 2021 which was a celebration for all Arabs, so we want to make the AFC Asian Cup 2023 a festival for all our friends throughout Asia.”
AFC PRESIDENT CITING
AFC President Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa said: “We know that the Local Organizing Committee and the Qatar Football Association will stage a spectacular event never experienced before in Asian football history.
“Already, we have witnessed the QFA and the Qatari Authorities organize the best-ever FIFA World Cup in the history of the modern game, and we have every faith that they will showcase their unrivalled hosting capabilities, state-of-the-art infrastructure and warm hospitality well admired throughout the world for the benefit of our teams, players and passionate fans.
“We praise them for their dedication and commitment, and we are delighted to confirm the competition dates and venues, which represent an important milestone in our ambitions to provide the ultimate stage for our teams and players to shine.”
Credit: AIPS Media
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