Muscat, Oman, December 15, 2020: The President of the Olympic Council of Asia, His Excellency Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, will tonight seek to find a compromise at the OCA General Assembly on Wednesday between two “great” candidate cities bidding to host the 21st Asian Games in 2030.
At the 74th OCA Executive Board meeting – held at the Kempinski Hotel in Oman, Muscat and online around the continent on Tuesday afternoon local time – the EB members authorised the OCA President to talk with officials of Doha, Qatar and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The 39th OCA General Assembly will take place on Wednesday and the 45 National Olympic Committees are due to vote for the host city in 2030.
Sheikh Ahmad said :
“I believe in the OCA that we always show solidarity and unity, and for this reason I will try to find a solution,” he told the meeting.
“I have visited both cities and they are ready to host the Asian Games in 2030. They have great financial support, great sports infrastructure and great support from all levels of government.
“I will talk to them both tonight and try to find a win-win situation.”
Sheikh Ahmad asked for the authority of the Executive Board members to attempt to find a solution with the two bid cities and received unanimous backing.
The Chairman of the OCA Advisory Committee, Mr Ng Ser Miang of Singapore, said: “We have received the report of the OCA Evaluation Committee and it is clear we have two wonderful bids from two excellent cities. I fully support you on this.”
Mr Ng, who is a Vice President of the International Olympic Committee, likened the situation to the IOC decision to award the Olympic Games to Paris in 2024 and to Los Angeles in 2028 without the need for a vote.
“In this case, all were winners and there were no losers,” he added.
Earlier in the meeting, the Chairman of the OCA Evaluation Committee, Mr Andrey Kryukov, Secretary General of the Kazakhstan Olympic Committee, presented the evaluation report from their visit in November and said both cities had “every opportunity and high potential” to host the 21st Asian Games in 2030 and described their legacy plans as “excellent”.
If Sheikh Ahmad cannot find a solution in Muscat on Tuesday night, there will be a straight vote for the 2030 Asian Games Host City..
