Ireland has dropped its bid to host the next America's Cup.
It leaves Spain as the favoured venue with both Barcelona and Malaga in the running to host the 2024 event with a venue announcement due by 31 March.
Jeddah in Saudi Arabia is the other contender.
The Irish Examiner reported the Cork withdrawal quoting a statement from the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media which said that while Cork harbour would be a "great venue" for the event, the necessary infrastructure and planning arrangements would not be in place in time and the decision had been made "not to proceed further in the bidding process".
A technical team visited Cork City earlier in the year to assess a number of sites as part of the state's due diligence process on the bid to host the 2024 yacht race.
Team New Zealand's Dan Bernisconi, Peter Burling, Glen Ashby, Blair Tuke and Ray Davies with the Americas Cup After beating Luna Rossa. Photo: Photosport
"An event of the calibre of the America's Cup brings with it an expectation of excellent delivery; the tight timeframe available prior to the 37th edition of the Cup brought with it a large risk of under-delivery," the statement read.
The government said that it recognises the positives it would have brought to Cork in terms of tourism, but a "very considerable amount of expenditure" would have been required to deliver the event.
The Irish Examiner stated it would have cost up to $90 million for the right to host the race and on TV rights, but a cost-benefit analysis has shown that the event could have been worth an estimated $900m to the economy.
Spanish media are reporting that Team New Zealand has chosen Barcelona as the next host of the America's Cup with Catalan business minister, Roger Torrent, telling Catalunya Ràdio they had reached a deal with Team New Zealand.
Barcelona hosted the 1992 Olympics in which the Sailing events were held alongside the coastal capital of Spain's Catalonia region.
Cronica Global said the city had secured the Cup with $110m from the Catalan government and Barcelona City Council.
Spain has previously hosted the America's Cup in 2007 with Valencia the venue.
-RNZ
