Zurich: India will face stiff competition from Asian football powerhouse Japan in the race to host the FIFA Club World Cup in 2015 and 2016.
The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has to submit bid for hosting the tournsments by Aug 25.
AIFF president Praful Patel met FIFA boss Sepp Blatter here to discuss the possibilities of hosting the 2015 and 2016 Club World Cup. India have also been granted the 2017 U-17 World Cup.
FIFA in a statement Friday said that the bidding process has been opened for four editions of the FIFA Club World Cup, FIFA's major club competition.
India and Japan have expressed a wish to host the tournament in 2015 and 2016. Japan along with Brazil and United Arab Emirates (UAE) also want to host it in 2017 and 2018.
The complete set of bidding documents has to be provided by Aug 25 and the FIFA executive Committee will select the host in September 2014.
FIFA said it was also delighted to see the impressive interest from its member associations in hosting a FIFA competition, after the bidding process was opened for eight tournaments including the FIFA Women's World Cup 2019.
A total of 31 declarations of interest have been received and FIFA has submitted the bidding documents, which the relevant member associations have to sign and return before the FIFA Executive Committee assigns the tournament.
Five countries have declared an interest in hosting the FIFA Women's World Cup 2019, namely England, France, South Korea, New Zealand and South Africa.
England, France, South Korea and New Zealand also want to host the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup 2018.
For the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup 2018, five declarations of interest have been received: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Egypt, Finland, Northern Ireland and Sweden are aiming to host the competition.
For the three women's competitions, the deadline for submitting the bid is Oct 31.
