With the World Cup in Qatar just weeks away, the country was selected Monday as host of the 2023 Asian Cup by the Asian Football Confederation.
Qatar beat bids from South Korea and Indonesia in a short-notice contest to replace China and host a tournament that could yet be played in 2024.
The 2023 Asian Cup is set in the FIFA-managed calendar of national-team soccer games to be played from June 16 to July 16 — when the desert heat in Qatar is so extreme that the World Cup had to be moved to November and December.
Qatar hosted the 2011 Asian Cup in January that year and now becomes the first country to host the continental championship three times after also staging the event in 1988.
The Qatari men’s team will be aiming to defend the title it won in 2019 in the United Arab Emirates.
China was originally
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