37th America's Cup: Could Ukraine crisis impact Cup host? Three offshore bids remain as deadline looms

AC75s will be in action again for the 37th America's Cup. Photo / Dean Purcell.

Three offshore locations remain on the shortlist to host the 37th America's Cup, with the bid to host the regatta in Valencia officially ruled out.

The port city in eastern Spain played host to the regatta in 2007 as well as the 2010 Deed of Gift match, and, with purpose-built infrastructure already in place, shaped up as a likely choice with Emirates Team New Zealand looking at offshore venues for the next edition of the Cup.

However, a letter from Team New Zealand chief executive Grant Dalton to the team behind the Valencia bid was leaked to Spanish media last week, notifying them that they were no longer in contention.

A spokesperson for Team New Zealand confirmed the decision to the Herald, but said speculation that a second Spanish bid – in the southern city of Malaga – had also been ruled out was incorrect.

"All three remaining shortlisted offshore venues are very much still in play right now as negotiations continue to finalise the Host Venue Agreements before a decision will be made," Team New Zealand's spokesperson said.

Malaga remains in the running to play host to the event, with the remaining bids believed to be in Jeddah on Saudi Arabia's west coast, and Cork in southern Ireland.

With the March 31 deadline for selecting a host city looming, Team New Zealand continue to weigh up their options.

There has been some speculation as to what role the war in Ukraine might play in those decisions, with fears the war may spread further than the borders of the eastern European country and into neighbouring countries such as Poland. An attack on a country such as Poland, who are part of both the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato), would likely lead to involvement from more of the countries involved in those agreements.

The Nato constitution states "an attack against one ally is considered an attack against all allies", while the EU has already been providing aid to Ukraine in the form of purchasing and delivering weapons for their fight against Russian forces while closing off all EU airspace to Russians. A statement from European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen added they were also "mobilising every effort and every euro to support our Eastern Member States."

Both Ireland and Spain are members of the EU, while Spain is a Nato member, so the war spilling outside of the borders of Ukraine and Russia could very well have an impact on the nations. While that might be the case, Team New Zealand said they could only work with what was in front of them.

There have been suggestions that the situation could aid the Kiwi Home Defence bid despite Team New Zealand's constant reminder that the bid is at a shortfall in terms of funding they have no desire to work with the man behind the bid, Mark Dunphy.

"It is too soon to tell the what the effect of the horrific war in Ukraine will have on the venue decision if any, but it certainly puts everything in perspective and our thoughts go out to the people of Ukraine.

"To reiterate, neither Emirates Team New Zealand nor the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron will have anything to do with Mark Dunphy or his Kiwi Home Defence due to his well-documented disingenuous actions."