The tournament is planned to be held with 24 teams in 10 different cities in China between June 16 and July 16 next year, knowing that this tournament will be held every four years.
“After lengthy negotiations between the two parties, the (Chinese Football Association) has officially informed the AFC of its inability to organize and host the 2023 AFC Asian Cup,” the AFC said in a statement.
He added, “The AFC recognizes the existence of extraordinary events caused by the (Covid-19) pandemic that led to the People’s Republic of China’s waiving of its hosting rights.”
The AFC has indicated that it will announce a decision on the venue of the tournament at a later date.
As such, the 2023 Asian Cup will be the latest sporting event to be affected by China’s efforts to curb the outbreak of the rapid spread of the virus.
Earlier this month, the Asian Olympic Council decided to postpone the next Asian Games, to be held in the Chinese city of Hangzhou next September, until next year.
China continues to apply major preventive measures to eradicate the infection after the increasing number of cases of Omicron mutant infection in its territory in recent weeks.
This comes at a time when most sporting events scheduled in China have been canceled or postponed since the start of the pandemic, except for the Winter Games, which were held in February under strict health measures.
The Chinese Grand Prix has not been in the Formula 1 program since 2019, and the Chinese Women’s Tennis Championship has been suspended due to concerns about the safety of Chinese Peng Shuai.
Four women’s tennis tournaments are scheduled to be held in China this year, including the Shanghai Masters Championship and the China Open in October.
The start date for the new football season in China has not yet been announced.
The Chinese Football Association also canceled the East Asian Championship scheduled for July next year and decided to host it in Japan.
China is supposed to host the Asian Cup final for the first time in a year.
2004, in which China finished second after losing in the final to Japan.
