Asian Cup organisers are not sweating on the poor form of the host team in the lead-up to the tournament and are convinced they can put on a world class event without Australian success, chief executive Michael Brown said Tuesday.

The Socceroos have won just one of their 10 matches this year, raising some concerns in Australia the hosts, runners-up in Qatar in 2011, might not be involved at the business end of the January 9-31 tournament.

Brown said while he had no doubt coach Ange Postecoglou and his players had a passionate desire to win the trophy, and that a strong showing would certainly be beneficial, it could never be guaranteed.

"Any sporting event which is team based needs the home team to do well, look at Brazil in the World Cup," he said at the launch of the tournament mascot, a wombat named Nutmeg.

"We're no different, we want the Socceroos to do well because that brings more people and more focus, but we can't rely on that.

"We're confident we'll put on a world class tournament that people will enjoy."

Behind that confidence are promising ticket sales for the 32 matches, the first of which takes place in Melbourne on January 9 when Australia face Kuwait in its first Group A match.

"Ticket sales are really good, we're ahead of budget, we're ahead of forecast," Brown said.

"There are a still lot of tickets to sell, we're not sold out, but certainly tickets to the Socceroos games are selling like hot cakes.

"There have been good sales for Japan, China and Korea. Iraq and Iran are encouraging. So we couldn't be more pleased even if we've got a long way to go."

The Australian government raised its terror threat level from 'medium' to 'high' in September, saying there was an increased likelihood of attacks.

While teams taking part in the tournament include several from troublespots in Asia, such as Palestine, Iraq and North Korea, Brown said he had not been informed of any specific threats to the tournament.

"We are by no means overconfident," he said.

"But we are working with government to make sure we deliver as safe a tournament as possible in an ever-changing world."