South Korea has abandoned its bid to stage football's Asian Cup in 2023,  leaving the sole other bidders China with a free run to become hosts.

The Korea Football Association (KFA) said in a statement it had pulled out to strategically focus on a joint bid with North Korea to host the Women's World Cup in the same year. 
 
Seoul's Asian Cup withdrawal means that China should on June 4 be confirmed by the  Asian Football Confederation as hosts of the nations championship finals for the second time.

China staged the tournament in 2004 when the hosts lost 3-1 to Japan in the Beijing final. This year's tournament in the UAE was expanded to 24 nations for the first time with Qatar winning the final 3-1 against Japan.