Asian Games: Competition will maintain its 'regional flavour'
OCA president says they will continue to back codes that have special meaning here, such as kabbadi, sepak takraw and wushu
Kabbadi and sepak takraw will continue to be part of the Asian Games to retain a distinctive "Asian flavour" - and the number of sports won't be cut, said Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) president Sheikh Ahmad al-Sabah.
I feel 36 is a good balance. While we will always feature the core Olympic sports, we will also keep other sports which are special to the region so as to keep our Asian identity and flavour
Despite the rising costs of hosting the Games - given as a reason for Hanoi pulling out as host in 2019 - Sheikh Ahmad revealed there were no plans to reduce the number of medal sports, presently 36 including the 28 Olympic sports.
"I feel 36 is a good balance. While we will always feature the core Olympic sports, we will also keep other sports which are special to the region so as to keep our Asian identity and flavour. These Games are a landmark in Asia and we have no plans to cut back," said Sheikh Ahmad.
But Asia's top sports official acknowledged costs were becoming prohibitive and called on future candidates to link their bids to development of the city. He pointed to Incheon as an example, with the US$2 billion tag to put on these Games including a new subway system.
"It is expensive and I guess it was a reason why Vietnam pulled out due to a slowdown in its economy," Sheikh Ahmad said. "The Doha Games [2006] cost more than US$8 billion to stage. Guangzhou was more than US$8 billion. Without touching the sports, we have to find a way to keep costs down and future bids must be related to the development of the city too."
Jakarta has stepped in as a replacement for Hanoi with Indonesian Olympic Committee president Rita Subowo pledging that the capital will be ready to host the Games, brought forward one year to 2018 owing to presidential elections in 2019.