Ashgabat 2017 welcomes delegates for NOC Open Day

Representatives of five National Olympic Committees visited the Ashgabat Olympic Complex during the first NOC Open Day on Tuesday hosted by the organising committee of the OCA’s 5th Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games 2017.

Delegates from Chinese Taipei, Kazakhstan, China, Saudi Arabia and Turkmenistan were welcomed as the first visitors from participating NOCs to look around the sights of Ashgabat city and the newly-built sports facilities.

AIMAG 5 will be held from September 17-27 with 62 NOCs – 45 from Asia and 17 from Oceania – and 21 sports. Around 600,000 tickets will be available for the events.

The Chairman of the AIMAG 5 Executive Committee, Dayanch Gulgeldiyev, said: "We are delighted to be able to show our hosts around our beautiful city and the world-class facilities of the Ashgabat Olympic Complex.

"We believe that the complex will play a big role in delivering the best ever AIMAG and we look forward to welcoming representatives and spectators form all participating NOCs in September."

The complex, which boasts over 30 different sites, including 15 competition venues and the Athletes’ Village, is in the last phase of construction and will completed in March.

In September, the Athletes’ Village, which has over 4,600 bedrooms, will host around 5,500 athletes, 1,750 team officials and 1,170 technical officials.

Here are the comments of some of the visiting NOCs:

*Wang Lee Yuh Fang, Deputy Secretary General of Chinese Taipei NOC: "The Athletes’ Village feels like an athlete’s dream come true. It is evident that a lot of thought has been put into the design of both the apartments and the recreational facilities. The fact that the Village is within walking distance of the Ashgabat Olympic Complex is also a big advantage – being close to their venues is always extremely helpful for athletes."

*Bassam Al Oubari, Sport Mission Specialist from Saudi Arabia: "I am very impressed by the level of readiness of the venues we toured today. It seems as if the entire Ashgabat Olympic Complex is ready and waiting for the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games to begin. Our athletes will be happy to know that they will be competing in the very best venues in September."

*Bakhytzhan Ordabayev, Kazakhstan NOC President Advisor: "Throughout the day we have heard presentations from many people from the Executive Committee. Everyone we have met seems to be working hard to ensure a high level of service in each of their areas – we are confident that Ashgabat 2017 is on track to deliver great Games."

Other facilities also based on the complex will host 800 members of the Olympic Council of Asia family, 350 members of the press and 600 broadcasters.

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