AFC have extended another three months for all Asian countries who wants to bid as a host of Asian Cup for 2027 edition due to coronavirus outbreak.
That means the deadline will be moved from March 31 to June 30.
The AFC had hoped to announce the tournament hosts as soon as possible to give them more time to prepare for the tournament, which has been expanded to 24 teams following the 2019 edition.
The Asian Cup 2023 will be staged in 10 cities in China.
“The decision was taken in light of the current Covid-19 pandemic to allow member associations, many of whom have been affected by the global outbreak, sufficient time to meet their internal processes and timelines, ” the AFC said in a statement.
So far, Saudi Arabia is the only nation to have publicly announced their intention to launch a bid for 2027.
The Middle East side have won the Asian Cup title three times but have never hosted the tournament throughout the history.