FFA enters bid for Asian Cup

Australia moved a step closer to hosting the 2015 Asian Cup after Football Federation Australia (FFA) officially submitted its bid for the tournament on Thursday.

Just days after the FIFA inspection team visited Australia to examine its 2022 World Cup bid, FFA chairman Frank Lowy and CEO Ben Buckley presented the bid book to AFC President Mohamed Bin Hammam at a ceremony at AFC House in Kuala Lumpur.

Australia is the sole bidder for the prestigious event.

"We at the FFA are dedicated, honoured and privileged to make Asian Cup bigger, better and more successful than the previous editions," Lowy said.

"It's my honour to present the Bid book and I can tell you that Australia is excited to host this event at all levels, sporting, government and the general public."

Bin Hammam said Australia's union with the AFC had brought about several positives for both parties.

"It has been a win-win situation for the AFC and FFA since Australia joined the AFC in 2006," Bin Hammam said.

"Now we are all reaping the benefits of this association."

"The three-day FIFA inspection visit to Australia ended only last night. And the presence of Chairman Lowy and Mr Buckley, both of who were heavily involved with the inspections, here today proves the enthusiasm and commitment of FFA for the 2015 bid."

"I assure them that their bid will have my recommendation when it goes before the AFC Executive Committee," he added.

Australia's bid has the support of the Federal Government as well as the support of Queensland, New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory and Victoria.

Lowy said the event was likely to attract large television viewer numbers from around Asia and would be a great opportunity to showcase Australia to the rest of the world.

"Australia has a long history of hosting fantastic sporting events and the benefits for Australia to host an event of this kind will not only leave a strong legacy for football in Australia, but also cement Australia's place in the Asian economic community," he said.

"More than 655 million viewers tuned in to the 2007 AFC Asian Cup and 748 million viewed the 2004 edition in China."

"We expect a massive increase in the number of viewers for the 2011 AFC Asian Cup especially considering China and India are both in the tournament at the same time for the first time in its history."