The Chinese soccer governing body, the Chinese Football Association (CFA), has dropped its bid for the 2019 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup, the Guangzhou-based Soccer News newspaper reported Thursday.

"Based on the current circumstances, after the national team suffered a humiliating defeat to Thailand in June, we have no choice but to withdraw the bid," an unnamed CFA official was quoted as saying.

"The next major task for us is to concentrate on our young players' development."

The bid was put forward by former CFA president Wei Di, who took charge in January 2010 but was replaced by Zhang Jian in January 2013.

The AFC requires that interested countries and regions should offer their bid, a guarantee that the govern­ment would like to host the event, and surveys of the views of residents in the prospective city. The CFA canceled its bid because they didn't receive a guarantee from the government, according to Soccer News.

China previously hosted the tournament in 2004, when they finished runners-up.

AFP - Global Times