KUALA LUMPUR — Saudi Arabia is now the only candidate to host the 2027 Asian Cup after India’s football federation withdrew its bid on Monday.

Preparing for the month-long tournament can let Saudi Arabia show its football hosting ambitions to FIFA.

The Asian Football Confederation said the Saudi Arabian bid would be the only one presented to congress members for approval. That will be at a Feb. 1 meeting in Manama, Bahrain.

No reason was given for India’s withdrawal, though the federation has been in turmoil and was briefly suspended by FIFA this year before staging the Under-17 Women’s World Cup in October.

Saudi Arabia has never hosted the Asian Cup, which it has won three times since the inaugural event in 1956. The most recent title was in 1996.

Hosting the 2027 edition shaped to be a blockbuster contest when Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iran, India and Uzbekistan initially submitted bids more than two years ago.

Qatar was awarded the 2023 edition in October after China handed back its hosting rights, citing the COVID-19 pandemic. That tournament is expected to be pushed back to January 2024.

The 2027 Asian Cup will become the fourth in five editions to be hosted in the Arabian Gulf region. — Agencies