The Korea Football Association announced in a press release on the 28th that it had submitted an Expression of Interest to Host the 2031 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup to the AFC on the 27th.

Korea is aiming for a sole hosting, not a co-hosting. An Expression of Interest is an association's official expression of interest in hosting the tournament, and the AFC requires that it send an official letter stating whether it is interested in a sole hosting or a co-hosting. The Korea Football Association submitted an Expression of Interest as a sole hosting.

This was the day before the submission deadline. The deadline is the end of this month. According to foreign media outlets, Australia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kuwait, and Indonesia each submitted Expressions of Interest as sole hosting, while Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan submitted their intentions as co-hosts.

The AFC will request and have member associations that have expressed their intention to host the event submit the necessary documents, and the final decision on the host city will be made next year after reviewing the documents and conducting on-site inspections.

This is just one day after Chairman Chung Mong-gyu was elected for a fourth term. On the 26th, Chairman Chung won re-election by a wide margin in a three-way election, beating out candidates Huh Jung-moo and Shin Moon-sun. Hosting the Asian Cup was one of Chairman Chung’s campaign promises. During his campaign, Chairman Chung said, “The possibility of hosting the Asian Cup is very high. Many countries have expressed interest, but Korea is the best candidate. Korea, China, and Japan could be considered, but China was unable to host the event due to various incidents, and Japan is not interested either. Korea just needs to provide a little support to the AFC,” and expressed his analysis that this time, the hosting rights will go to East Asia.