The last Asian Cup in 2007 was held mid-year while the 2011 version in Qatar will kick off in January.

The bid is due to be presented in the course of 2009 and any local organising committee would need to be in place by early 2010.

Heading the FFA's bid team is Rob Abernethy. The A-League operations supremo holds experience in both the Commonwealth Games and Rugby World Cup organising committees as well working on the Asian Champions League.

"At this stage, it looks like we're the only bidder. And we shouldn't underestimate the size of the Asian Cup in a huge region," said FFA CEO Ben Buckley today. 

He added that Australia could be "well placed" to hold the Asian Cup tomorrow.

"We're working through a preliminary draw now and working through what additional infrastructure would be required.

"But we'd be pretty confident that we could host an Asian Cup without significant additional infrastructure and stadia investment."