Officials in the Greek-controlled southern half of Cyprus have reportedly narrowed down their casino applicant shortlist to three operators, all of which have Asian ties.

This weekend, Cypriot media outlet Politis reported that the government bodies overseeing the competition to build the lone casino in southern Cyprus had identified the three most qualified candidates from the original list of eight interested applicants.

Official word won’t be forthcoming until sometime later this week but sources claim that the three highest scoring casino candidates are (ranked highest to lowest) a tandem bid by Florida-based Hard Rock International and Melco; Cambodia’s NagaCorp; and the Philippines’ Bloomberry Resorts Corp.

Politis cited Melco as being based in Macau, which suggests that it was referring to Melco Crown Entertainment, the joint venture of Australian casino operator Crown Resorts and Hong Kong construction firm Melco International Development. But Melco Crown announced in January that it wasn’t planning any Cyprus expansion, suggesting Politis may have confused Melco Crown for Melco International.