KUALA LUMPUR: Asian Cup defending champions Qatar Wednesday submitted their official bid to host the 2027 edition of the tournament, officials said, hoping to stage the competition for the third time.

Four other countries have also expressed interest in hosting the tournament -- India, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) said.

The successful bidder will be announced in 2021.

Qatar, also hosts of the next World Cup in 2022, previously staged the Asian Cup, the continent’s top national team competition, in 1988 and 2011, the AFC said.

The Gulf state won the 2019 Asian Cup where the tournament was expanded from 16 to 24 teams.

China will host the next edition in 2023.

Published in Dawn, August 27th, 2020