We want the Asian final here say UAEFA

The UAE Football Association are keen to host the 2010 Asian Football Confederation Champions League final.

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The UAE Football Association are keen to host the 2010 Asian Football Confederation Champions League final. The 2010 final, like this year, will be held at a neutral venue and the Asian confederation have invited bids from members, the key condition being a stadium with a 40,000-plus capacity. The UAE already have the necessary facilities and will be hosting the Fifa Club World Cup at the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium and Zayed Sports City in December and again next year.

The Mohammed bin Zayed ground has a capacity of about 42,000 while the Zayed Sports City stadium can seat around 50,000. While a bid for the 2010 ACL final has not been officially discussed, Abdullah Yousuf, the general secretary of the UAEFA, says they would be interested and will know more after receiving details of AFC conditions. "We have not discussed this at an official level yet," he said. "We will wait till we receive an official communication from the AFC and then we will see.

"First we will have to sit down with Pro League and discuss it with them. But I think we have all the facilities and we would certainly be interested." The Asian confederation have set Dec 6 2009 as the deadline for receiving application documents, and will announce the host venue in January of next year. If the UAE do decide to bid they should be the favourites, especially after hosting glamour side Barcelona and five other continental champions at the Fifa Club World Cup.

The six will compete alongside Pro League winners Al Ahli for a prize pool of US$16.5 million (Dh 60.5m), with the winners taking home $5m. arizvi@thenational.ae