Paris: After more than four and a half years in the waiting, the road to the 18th edition of Asia’s crown jewel will mark its first milestone on Tuesday when the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Extraordinary Congress confirms the host of the 2023 AFC Asian Cup in Paris, France.

The AFC Asian Cup 2023 is expected to be the greatest-ever spectacle and celebration of Asian football following the success of the biggest and most engaging ever edition held in the United Arab Emirates earlier this year.

UAE 2019 signalled a decisive shift for the world’s second-oldest Continental competition after the AFC introduced some of the most significant changes in the history of the tournament.

In addition to a record 24 participating teams, the 17th edition also marked the first time the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system was introduced in the AFC competitions.

Qatar created history not only by winning their first-ever title but were also the first side to raise the dazzling new trophy which was commissioned for the first time since the tournament’s inaugural edition in 1956. Further enhancing the value of the tournament, a new prize fund totalling USD$14.8 million was introduced in 2019.

The game-changing innovations brought immediate success when more than 890 million digital users engaged on the tournament’s official platforms and another 733 million TV viewers witnessing the action across the globe.

All eyes will be on China PR who remain the sole bidder of the hosting rights for the AFC Asian Cup 2023 to surpass all expectations and take its place in hosting the best-ever AFC Asian Cup in history.

Click here to stream live the AFC Extraordinary Congress 2019 from 10:00am (local time) on June 4, 2019. To access the agenda for the Congress, please click here.

Accredited media and non-right holders keen to cover the event from inside the Congress hall can do so but must submit their request to media@the-afc.com.