Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Saturday extended the government’s full support to India’s bid for the 2031 AFC Asian Cup, saying hosting major events will only boost the global stature of the country which is aiming to stage the 2036 Olympics.

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has submitted the country’s ‘Expression of Interest (EoI)’ to host the 2031 edition of the continent’s most prestigious tournament before the deadline of March 31, it was announced on Friday.  “Hosting major sporting events has a profound and lasting impact on a nation’s sports ecosystem and infrastructure. Sports can serve as a powerful testimony of India’s rising global stature,” Mandaviya said in an AIFF release.

“Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi is leading India’s visionary bid to host the 2036 Olympics. There is also growing momentum behind India’s aspiration to host the Commonwealth Games once again.” Extending the support of the government, Mandaviya said, “Given football’s immense popularity across the country, it is only natural that we are pursuing the opportunity to host the AFC Asian Cup.

“The government extends its strong support to the All India Football Federation’s bid to bring Asia’s biggest football event to India. Should we succeed, I am confident that football will get a big boost.” India will face tough competition from established football powerhouses such as Australia, South Korea and United Arab Emirates to get the right to host the tournament. Indonesia and Kuwait have also submitted the EoI while there is a joint bid of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Speaking from Kuala Lumpur, where he attended the 35th AFC Congress, AIFF President Kalyan Chaubey said, “The AIFF is happy to have the government’s strong support in our bid to host the AFC Asian Cup 2031. The Asian Cup is the biggest football tournament in Asia and it is important for India as a nation to showcase what we have, not just to Asia but to the rest of the world.

The AFC will now work with the bidding countries on the delivery of the necessary bid documentation in accordance with the established timelines and processes. A bidding workshop is scheduled to be held later this month.

Thereafter, an overall evaluation of the bids will be undertaken by the AFC administration prior to the selection of the host for the 24-team competition by the AFC Congress in 2026. India has never hosted the tournament, the continent’s equivalent of World Cup.

It had submitted bids to host the 2023 and 2027 editions when Praful Patel was the AIFF president. The bid for the 2023 edition was withdrawn in 2018 and the same happened in case of the 2027 tournament also. In December 2022, a few months after incumbent Kalyan Chaubey took charge as AIFF president, India withdrew its bid to stage the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, declaring that hosting big-ticket events is not among its “strategic priorities” at that juncture.

The AIFF’s decision had left Saudi Arabia to be the lone candidate to host the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, the 19th edition of the continent’s showpiece event.