(ATR) Olympic Council of Asia president Sheikh Ahmad calls for a location change for the 2017 Asian Youth Games.
According to OCA, the council is withdrawing the 2017 Asian Youth Games from Sri Lanka due to a problem with the autonomy between the national organizing committee (NOC) and the government, specifically the sports ministry.
The decision to withdraw these games has been in the works since March of 2014. That month, the OCA gave Sri Lanka a three-month deadline to begin making progress on preparations for the games. In September 2014, Sheikh Ahmad said the location would not be reconsidered.
At the OCA General Assembly later that month, it was announced that another city in Sri Lanka would help host the games. However, after continued delays and difficulties between the NOC and the government, the OCA has reconsidered.
Sheikh Ahmad suggested that Jakarta, Indonesia step in to host the third edition of the Asian Youth Games during the OCA executive board meeting in Iran. Sheikh Ahmad says doing so would allow Jakarta to use the Asian Youth Games as a test event leading up to the 2018 Asian Games.
The new location for the third Asian Youth Games will officially be decided at the next OCA general assembly this September.
The OCA president also called for the winner of the bidding cities for the 2022 Winter Olympics to step in to host the ninth Asian Winter Games in 2021. He asks either Beijing or Almaty to host these games and use it as a test event for their Olympics a year later. The request stems from a lack of cities interested in hosting these games.
The council faced a similar issue while trying to find a host for the 2017 Asian Winter Games. The only city to bid on the event was Sapporo, Japan.
Sheikh Ahmad thanked Sapporo for stepping in to host the event at a time where even the Winter Olympics are having difficulties finding bid cities.
The executive board will hold their next meeting on September 7, 2015 in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. Ashgabat will host the fifth Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games in 2017.
Written by Kevin Nutley
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