Kuwait City, Kuwait, November 26, 2020: The Olympic Council of Asia Advisory Committee met online on Thursday, November 26 to discuss the current situation of the Olympic Movement in Asia and around the world.
The Advisory Committee is made up of IOC Members from Asia and is chaired by IOC Vice President Mr Ng Ser Miang of Singapore.
Mr Ng thanked the OCA for setting up the Advisory Committee, which serves as a bridge between the IOC and the OCA.
“The OCA is a dynamic organisation and formed this Advisory Committee so we can group together the IOC Members in Asia and support the OCA,” said Mr Ng in his opening address.
He added that Asia was playing an increasingly important role in the IOC with the election of new IOC Members, newly appointed Executive Board members and heads of IOC Commissions.
“We are very happy that we are growing our presence from Asia, contributing to the Olympic Movement and putting forward the views of Asia,” he added.
The OCA Director General, Mr Husain Al Musallam, said it had been a very busy year for the OCA due to the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. “Most of our energy has been spent on trying to plan and fix the current activities,” he said.
“We will conduct the OCA General Assembly in Muscat where a very important event will happen – the two bid cities for the 2030 Asian Games, Riyadh and Doha,” he added.
“This shows that the calendar of the OCA and the Asian Games is moving in the right direction, despite the challenges we are facing.”
The OCA Director General said the Executive Board meeting would take place on December 15 and the General Assembly on December 16 in Muscat, capital of Oman. So far, 25 NOCs had confirmed their attendance, and an online voting procedure was being formulated.
He also acknowledged that 2021 would be a busy year for the National Olympic Committees, not only with the Tokyo Olympics but also three OCA games – Asian Beach Games in Sanya, China in April, Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games in Bangkok and Chonburi province, Thailand in May and Asian Youth Games in Shantou, China in November – and that the OCA had been working closely with the local organising committees to provide the most practical procedures for participation.
To assist NOCs and athletes in these difficult times, Mr Al Musallam pointed out that both the IOC Olympic Solidarity and the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) had provided extra funding to assist in their preparations.
The Chair of the IOC Culture and Olympic Heritage Commission, Khunying Patama Leeswadtrakul of Thailand, provided an update to Advisory Committee members, followed by IOC Executive Board member Mikee Cojuangco Jaworski of the Philippines, Chair of the Olympic Education Commission, and IOC Executive Board member HRH Prince Feisal Al Hussein, Chair of the Prevention of Harassment and Abuse in Sport Working Group.