Hangzhou, China, September 8, 2021: The Director General of the Olympic Council of Asia, Husain Al-Musallam, is looking forward to the “best Asian Games ever” at Hangzhou, China in September 2022.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the two-day online Chefs de Mission Seminar on Wednesday, Mr Al-Musallam thanked the Hangzhou Asian Games Organising Committee (HAGOC) for all the preparatory work undertaken throughout the pandemic.
“I am sure that the organising committee have done a great job in the preparation for these important games in terms of sport venues, the operation and planning for the best environment for the athletes coming from Asia and Oceania,” he said.
“In this regard I would like to thank all the members of the organising committee, the volunteers especially, for their hard work and commitment during the past difficult two years where now we see Hangzhou city ready to host the best Asian Games ever.”
The OCA Director General welcomed the National Olympic Committees from Asia and Oceania, who will be making their Asian Games debut next year, as well as from the organising committees of future OCA games, and congratulated them on their successful participation at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
The President of the Chinese Olympic Committee, Mr Gou Zhongwen, who is also in charge of the General Administration of Sport in China and President of HAGOC, and Mr Zheng Shanjie, President of HAGOC and Governor of Zhejiang Province, also gave a speech at the opening ceremony and stressed the full support of Chinese President Xi Jinping and the central government for Hangzhou 2022.
The Mayor of Hangzhou and Vice President and Secretary General of HAGOC, Mr Liu Xin, provided an overview of the progress of preparations with one year to go and said Hangzhou had the “confidence, resolve and capability” to deliver a successful Asian Games with safety and security as the priorities.
The first day of the seminar covered seven major topics - sports/sports entry and doping control, competition and training venues, accreditation, NOC services, arrival and departure, transport, freight and logistics and protocol.
Delegates heard that the sports programme will feature 40 sports, 61 disciplines and 482 events which will be contested in 55 competition venues. There will also be 31 independent training venues.
Hangzhou will be the main sports hub and there will be five co-host cities in Zhejiang province in eastern China: Ningbo, Wenzhou, Shaoxing, Jinhua and Huzhou.
Organisers reported that they sent a team of experts and observers to check on the pandemic counter-measures at Tokyo 2020 and will also gain experience from the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics next February in drawing up their own requirements to put in place for the 19th Asian Games, which will run from September 10-25, 2022.