Nagoya, Aichi prefecture to host 2026 Asian Games

Reuters: Japan will host the Asian Games for the third time in 2026 after Aichi prefecture and its capital Nagoya were confirmed as the venue for the multi-sport event by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) on Sunday.

The Japanese bid was the only one put forward to host the continental gathering, which will be staged in Jakarta and Palembang, Indonesia in 2018 and the Chinese city of Hangzhou in 2022.

Japan, hosts of the 2017 Asian Winter Games, 2019 Rugby World Cup and 2020 Summer Olympics, also staged the AsianGames in Tokyo in 1958 and Hiroshima in 1994.

“The road map of our main event is very stable,” OCA president Sheikh Ahmad Al Fahad Al Sabah said after the decision of the general assembly in Danang, Vietnam.

“Together with our three Asian Games in 2018, 2022 and 2026, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and the next two Winter Olympics in Korea and China..., the sports calendar of Asia will be very busy with continental and international events.”

Organisers said in a presentation to the OCA assembly on Sunday that the Games would cost $842 million.

The bid only received the green light from the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) earlier this month after the provision of detailed cost estimates.

In those estimates, some 30%  of those costs are expected to be covered by sponsorship and other revenue, while Aichi prefecture and Nagoya will split the remaining costs on a 70:30 basis.

Asian neighbours join hands for successful hosting of Games

Reuters: Sports ministers from neighbouring countries of South Korea, China and Japan held talks to build a platform to ensure the success of upcoming Olympic Games in the region.

The three countries will host the next three Olympic Games in Northeast Asia -- PyeongChang hosts the 2018 Winter Games, Tokyo will stage the 2020 Summer Games and the 2020 Winter Olympics will be held in Beijing.

After the two-day meeting between the Asian nations, South Koreaan sports minister Cho Yoon-sun announced the “PyeongChang Declaration”, under which the countries agreed to expand their sports exchange and cooperation, and sought their counterparts’ expertise to ensure the smooth running of the Olympics.

“For the success of PyeongChang 2018, Tokyo 2020 and Beijing 2022, the three nations will share their know-how and undertake joint efforts to create excitement for the events,” the declaration read.

“Through sports exchanges, South Korea, China and Japan will strengthen mutual understanding and trust, and will use that as a base for peaceful co-existence in Northeast Asia.”

The neighbours will also seek to step up anti-doping efforts and agreed to create an “Olympic Legacy”.

“South Korea, China and Japan are the oldest neighbours in the world, and we’ve all established brilliant and unique civilizations on common ideological and cultural foundation,” Cho was quoted as saying by the Yonhap news agency.

“In addition to the success of the Olympics in the region, I hope this sports ministers’ meeting will offer a vision for the future that can bring about the co-prosperity of the three countries.”

Olympic Council of Asia sets up sub offices as Kuwait row rumbles

Reuters: The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) has decided to set up five new sub offices to enable it to function effectively while the row with the Kuwait government continues over its headquarters in the Gulf State.

Kuwait was suspended by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in October 2015 after the government was accused of interference in its national Olympic Committee, which has subsequently been dissolved.

A month later, the long-term agreement for the OCA to have its headquarters in Kuwait City was unilaterally torn up by the government. The OCA Executive Board met on Saturday and decided to set up regional offices in Bangkok, Almaty, Delhi and Nansha, China as well as in Lausanne, Switzerland, the home of the IOC. “We are committed to not only continuing with our services but to improve them further,” OCA Director General Husain Al Musallam said in a statement.

“We hope for the (Kuwait) government to finalise what is the direction. (They) terminated the diplomatic agreement in November last year and we are looking forward to finalising all the related issues officially with them.

“But now, with these five offices, plus Lausanne, the OCA and the Asian Games is well protected.”

The board meeting in Danang, Vietnam also agreed to limit the number of athletes at the Asian Games to two per country per sport.

“This decision has been made to reduce the participants at the Asian Games, which now involve 15,000 athletes and officials from the 45 countries and regions, 4,000 technical staff, 8,000 media and 30,000 volunteers and workforce, meaning some 60,000 people are involved every day of the Games,” read an OCA statement. Australia, who are in the Oceania confederation for the Olympics but Asia for soccer, have also been invited to participate at the 2017 Asian Winter Games, but without the chance of winning medals. “Oceania is a neighbouring confederation for Asia and we welcome not only Australia but all Oceania to take the opportunity to enter for the first time, as a guest but with no medals,” the statement added. “We will evaluate the situation after that.”

Oceania does not organise a Winter Games. The next Asian Winter games are in Sapporo, Japan in February, while the next Summer version of the continental gathering takes place in Indonesia in 2018.