After successfully hosting the U17 Men’s FIFA World Cup in 2017, India was given a go-ahead for staging the Women’s age-group tournament in 2021, which has been shifted to next year due to the Covid-19 outbreak. Meanwhile, the AIFF has been awarded the hosting rights for the 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup, the second time India is going to host the event, after 1979.

“I need to thank the Asian Football Confederation for finding us suitable to host the AFC Women’s Asian Cup in 2022. The tournament will galvanise the aspiring women players and bring in a holistic social revolution as far as women’s football in the country is concerned,” said AIFF President Praful Patel, as reported by Scroll.in.

India piped Chinese Taipei and Uzbekistan to grab the hosting rights for what will be the 20th edition of the tournament. The tournament will feature 12 teams, as opposed to the eight-team affair which was in place in the previous editions, with India already having qualified, being the hosts. This will be India’s ninth appearance in the Cup, having finished runners-up on two occasions in the past.

Japan is the defending champion, having won its second title in Jordan, a couple of years ago, having defeated Australia by a 1-0 margin in the final. On the other hand, China is the most successful team in the tournament with a total of nine titles to its name.