Bangkok, Thailand, May 16, 2016: The Olympic Council of Asia’s influential Sports Committee is to recommend to the OCA a change in the crowded sports calendar.
The OCA Sports Committee meets in Bangkok.
16 May 2016
Bangkok, Thailand, May 16, 2016: The Olympic Council of Asia’s influential Sports Committee is to recommend to the OCA a change in the crowded sports calendar. The committee, under new chairman Song Luzeng of China, will propose to the OCA Executive Board that the Asian Beach Games be held every four years instead of every two years as per the current calendar.
The Asian Beach Games was first held in Bali, Indonesia, in 2008, and proved very popular because of the relatively low costs of hosting the games in temporary venues by the sea and the high potential for tourism. Asian Beach Games followed in Muscat, Oman, in 2010, Haiyang, China, in 2012 and Phuket, Thailand, in 2014. The fifth edition will be held in Danang, Vietnam, this September.
Addressing the Sports Committee meeting at the Centara Grand Convention Centre in Bangkok on Monday, Mr Song said: "We have so many games with the Olympic Games, Winter and Summer, the Youth Olympic Games, Winter and Summer, and in Asia we have five games, plus in each of the five regions we have different games.
"In order to implement the IOC’s Olympic Agenda 2020, and for sustainable development, I suggest the Asian Beach Games will be held every four years for the more sustainable development of Asian sport." The members agreed unanimously, and the recommendation will now be passed to the OCA Executive Board for final approval.
The OCA’s five multi-sport games are the Asian Games, Asian Winter Games, Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games (AIMAG), Asian Beach Games and Asian Youth Games (AYG). In addition, each of the OCA’s five zones has their own games, such as the South-East Asian Games for the 11 National Olympic Committees in the SEA region.
The next edition of the SEA Games will be in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in August 2017 – a year that will also bring three OCA events - 8th Asian Winter Games in Sapporo, Japan, in February; 5th AIMAG in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, in September; and 3rd AYG in Jakarta, Indonesia, in November - as well as the inaugural ANOC World Beach Games in San Diego, USA, in October.
Mr Song, who is Secretary General of the Chinese Olympic Committee, began the first meeting of the new Sports Committee for the new Olympic cycle by telling the members: "We have a heavy role in the development of sport in Asia. I think, so far as the Sports Committee is concerned, everybody should work together for the development of sport in our region.
"We have a heavy task because we have five games altogether, and we have a heavy responsibility during the games because we have to watch the games and write reports." Mr Song invited all members of the Sports Committee to attend the OCA games in order to assist in supervising the sports and to study the development of sport in the region, and to work closely with the organising committee.
