DUBAI: Indonesia is favourite to take on the 2019 Asian Games after Vietnam’s withdrawal because of the cost, Asian sports sources said on Friday.

A decision on the new country will be made on Sept 20 in Incheon, South Korea which will host this year’s Asiad at the same time.

Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung announced on Thursday that his country was pulling out of hosting the 2019 Games because of economic “difficulties”.

Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) leaders warned Vietnam this year that they were already falling behind in preparations, officials said.

Staging the world’s second biggest multi-sport event after the Olympics requires hundreds of millions of dollars of investment.

“Three countries have shown an interest in hosting the 2019 Asian Games following Vietnam’s withdrawal,” an Asian sports source familiar with negotiations told AFP.

Indonesia is one and the other two candidates are also from East Asia, the source added without naming the other two.

“Indonesia, which was beaten by Vietnam in the hosting vote in 2012, is seen as the strongest candidate,” the source said.

OCA members confirmed that Indonesia is the leading candidate but said more negotiations would be needed.