Harbin, China, February 6, 2025: The Director General of the Olympic Council of Asia, Husain Al Musallam, congratulated the organising committee of the 9th Asian Winter Games on a “great job” in preparing for Harbin 2025.
Speaking at a joint press conference between the OCA and HAWGOC at the Main Press Centre on Thursday, Mr. Al Musallam said Harbin had less than two years to prepare for the 9th AWG, which will run from February 7-14 with six sports, 11 disciplines and 64 events.
In his opening address, the OCA Director General said: “I would like to put on record Harbin City did a great job taking the games less than two years ago.
“They have prepared the city; they have prepared the facilities and they have prepared all the games requirements in a very short time and in a very professional way.”
The ninth edition of the Asian Winter Games will feature a record number of athletes, 1,275, from a record number of National Olympic Committees, 34, and Mr. Al Musallam said the OCA was pleased that winter sports had grown considerably since the first AWG in Sapporo, Japan in 1986 to become very popular in the continent of Asia – “from west to the east and from north to the south, now more and more youth are engaged in the winter sports.”
“For this games, the Olympic Council of Asia pays big attention to it, and one of the main reasons is to prepare the Asian athletes to perform and to compete at the best, high standard for the next Olympic Games in Italy - Milan Cortina 2026.”
Mr. Al Musallam believed that winter sports would continue to flourish in Asia due to the fact the 10th AWG will be held in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 2029 – with the flag handover from Harbin city to Neom city set to take place at the closing ceremony on February 14.
“I can assure you that preparations for the Asian Winter Games in 2029 in Saudi Arabia – and in West Asia for the first time- are going well, on time, well prepared and on the right track. This will increase the popularity of winter sports in the Middle East”.
Mr. Al Musallam concluded his opening remarks by thanking Harbin City, the Chinese Olympic Committee and the General Administration of Sport of China for their continued support of the Olympic Movement in Asia, and said he was very proud that Asia was now one of the most advanced continents in the Olympic Movement.
The OCA Vice President, Dr. Thani Al Kuwari, congratulated Harbin for hosting the Asian Winter Games for the second time, following 1996, and said he hoped it would be a success for all athletes.
Mr. Song Luzeng, OCA Vice President and Chair of the OCA Sports Committee, said Harbin 2025 would be the next step in the development of winter sports in Asia following the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, Korea in 2018 and Beijing in 2022.
“Ice and snow sports are developing very fast in Asia,” he said, adding that the ability of hosting large-scale, world-class games were also first class.
“So, in the future, I am sure that more and more Asian NOCs and more and more Asian athletes will take part in the Asian Winter Games,” said Mr. Song.
