ASHGABAT (Turkmenistan) • The influential head of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) has dashed hopes that athletes from Oceania nations, including Australia and New Zealand, might be able to compete in the Asian Games from 2022.
Athletes from the two countries took part in the Asian Winter Games as "guests" in Sapporo earlier this year, and the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) said talks were being held about extending the invitation to the summer versions.
Nineteen Oceania nations are represented for the first time at the ongoing Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games in Turkmenistan, but OCA president Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah said the Asian Games was already too big.
"I hope at the next Indoor Games, we will have the same experience and Oceania will continue with us in the Indoor Games," he told a news conference, adding that the Asian Beach Games might also be an option for Oceania athletes.
"With the Asian Games, we are already at 15,000 athletes and officials, and we cannot add to that number. In the Beach Games and Indoor Games, we can continue, but for the Asian Games the number is very high and we cannot have an Olympic Village with more than 15,000 people."
Next year's version of the quadrennial Asian Games, which is second in size only to the Summer Olympics, takes place in Indonesia with the 2022 edition scheduled for Hangzhou, China.
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15,000
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Number of athletes expected at an Asian Games.
Australia has long entertained the idea of forging closer ties with Asia in the hope of exposing their athletes to stiffer competition.
In 2006, Australia's national football body ditched Oceania to join the Asian Football Confederation, but previous attempts to compete at the Asian Games have failed.
It had the backing of China - which wants tougher competition, especially for its swimmers - but not Sheikh Ahmad, who is also the president of the Association of National Olympic Committees, representing more than 200 countries.
AOC president John Coates, another influential member of the International Olympic Committee, said in Sapporo in February that participating in the Asian Games would be "very good" for Australia.
"Discussions are under way and I believe there would be great interest in the Asian Games among our member sports," he said.
"Particularly in sports where the Asian countries are strong, such as gymnastics, badminton and table tennis."
REUTERS
