By Michael Pavitt

Singapore hosted a Swimming World Cup event in 2014 ©Getty ImagesHungary and Singapore have emerged as potential candidates to replace Mexico as host of the International Aquatics Federation (FINA) 2017 World Aquatics Championships, it has been reported.

Guadalajara had been set to stage the showpiece event but withdrew on Wednesday (February 18), saying it would be too costly in light of falling oil prices.

Great Britain and the United States have already ruled themselves out of the contention, citing the short time frame and high costs of hosting the competition as reasons for declining to enter the race to replace Mexico.

However, The New Paper in Singapore has reported the country could be interested in hosting the Championships after contacting Jose Raymond, vice-president of the Singapore Swimming Association.

Raymond was quoted as saying that if they were approached by the world governing body "a detailed study and analysis of the event's requirements and required budget" would need to be produced, prior to making formal bid being submitted.

Singapore will host the FINA World Junior Swimming Championships this year, but the costs of staging the full programme of the World Aquatics Championships continues to be a major concern of potential hosts.

If selected, the country would need to accommodate competition in diving, swimming, synchronised swimming, open water and water polo.

Another potential candidate could be Budapest, as swimswam.com has reported that Tamas Gyarfas, President of the Hungarian Swimming Federation, has said it might be possible for the order of the 2017 Junior World and the 2021 World Championships to be swapped.

FINA hopes to have "something concrete" in the next couple of weeks regarding the 2017 Championship hosts ©Getty ImagesFINA hopes to have "something concrete" in the next couple of weeks regarding the 2017 Championship hosts ©Getty Images



Budapest is currently set to stage both events and the switch would allow FINA to conduct a longer term search for replacement hosts for the 2021 edition rather than short time frame they have for 2017.

Budapest is reportedly considering a bid for the 2024 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games and the World Aquatics Championships could provide the city with an opportunity to showcase its ability to stage a major international sporting event.

Australia has also been mooted as a potential option for FINA indicating that it would be willing to enter discussions over assisting the organisation.

FINA's executive director Cornel Marculescu told insidethegames on Friday (February 20) that the governing body is hoping to produce "something concrete" regarding the hosting of the 2017 Championships within the next week or two.

The Russian city of Kazan, is set to host the 2015 edition of the Championships from July 24 to August 9.

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