Hangzhou, China, September 18, 2023: The Olympic Council of Asia kicked off the election for the OCA Athletes’ Committee at a press conference in the Main Media Centre on Monday, September 18.
From noon on September 18 through to noon on October 6, athletes holding an “F” accreditation for the 19th Asian Games can vote for candidates from the five zones of the OCA.
A total of 26 athletes are standing for 10 places on the OCA Athletes’ Committee, and the winners will be announced by the OCA on October 7. Athletes will select one female and one male representative from each of the five zones.
The newly elected members will then select a Chair and Vice Chair of the OCA Athletes’ Committee, and the Chair will have a seat on the OCA Executive Board to communicate the thoughts and feelings of the athletes representing all of Asia.
The 10 elected members will be joined by four members appointed by the OCA to complete a 14-strong OCA Athletes’ Committee.
The Acting Director General of the OCA, Vinod Kumar Tiwari, welcomed the media to the first official press conference of the 19th Asian Games to be held in the main press conference room of the Main Press Centre.
He said the 19th Asian Games, which will run from September 23 to October 8, would be the first Olympic event to be held without restrictions following three years of the pandemic and said it would be a “multi-cultural and multi-sport” celebration.
“This is the first time the OCA has endeavored to go ahead and do the elections as per Olympic Agenda 2020 + 5,” he said, referring to the roadmap set out by the International Olympic Committee President, Thomas Bach.
“We are giving the voice to the athletes to select their own people from the athletes to be part of the OCA Athletes’ Committee.”
He added that, considering it was the first time the OCA had conducted such an election, the list of 26 candidates nominated by the National Olympic Committees was “quite a huge number”.
The OCA’s Head of Athletes Development Department, Tony Tarraf, told the media that 17 of the 26 candidates were competing in the 19th Asian Games, and that the other nine had competed at the Asian Games in 2018 or in 2014.
Athletes can vote at election booths in the dining hall of the main Athletes’ Village, the five Athletes’ Sub Villages at Tonglu, Chun’an, Ningbo, Jinhua and Wenzhou, as well as three residences at Xiaoshan, Lin’an and Shaoxing.
The OCA’s Head of Project Operation department, Wissam Trkmani, explained the technical aspects of the voting procedure and took the media through the process step by step.
On logging in to the voting QR code, athletes can read information on each candidate. All votes will be confidential.
Candidates List
East Asia: Male – Lee Chun Ho (Hong Kong China, karate), Shin Hyun Woo (Korea, shooting), Naoto Tobe (Japan, athletics), Yang Kun Pi (Chinese Taipei, shooting). Female – Huang Mei Chien (Chinese Taipei, swimming), Ding Ning (China, table tennis).
South East Asia: Male – Terry Tay (Singapore, gymnastics). Female – Shayna Ng (Singapore, bowling), Francesca Altomonte (Philippines, softball), Shalin Zulkifli (Malaysia, bowling), Nguyen Thi Thanh Thuy (Vietnam, judo).
South Asia: Male – N/A. Female – Saina Nehwal (India, badminton).
Central Asia: Male – Ehsan Hadidi (Iran, athletics), Bekzod Abdurakhmonov (Uzbekistan, wrestling), Merdan Atayev (Turkmenistan, swimming). Female – Najmeh Khedmati (Iran, shooting), Zulhumar Dashkinova (Turkmenistan, judo), Yulduz Hashimi (Afghanistan, cycling).
West Asia: Male – Mohammed Al Qarnas (Yemen, boxing), Mutaz Barshim (Qatar, athletics), Abdelrahman Almasatfa (Jordan, karate), Adnan Taees Akkar (Iraq, athletics), Husein Alireza (Saudi Arabia, rowing), Abdallah Abushabab (Palestine, triathlon). Female – Julyana Al Sadeq (Jordan, taekwondo), Hala Al Qadi (Palestine, karate).
