Doha to host 2030 Asian Games

Riyadh handed hosting rights for 2034 edition 

MUSCAT, Dec 16

After an impressive edition in 2006, the 2030 Asian Games will be staged in Qatar capital of Doha. Doha’s bid beat Riyadh after receiving highest number of votes from the National Olympic Committees (NOC) of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA).

The official deceleration of the Doha city was part of the 39th General Assembly meeting of OCA on Wednesday at JW Marriot under auspices of HH Sayyid Theyazin bin Haitham al Said, Minister of Culture, Sports and Youth, in presence of the top dignitaries.

Riyadh will host the 2034 edition as Shaikh Ahmad al Fahad al Sabah, President of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), affirmed that both cities delivered excellent presentations and they will host the editions of 2030 and 2034 of Asian Games.

Qatar’s delegations celebrated after the announcement and Shaikh Joaan bin Hamad al Thani, President of Qatar Olympic Committee, signed the agreement contract and Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki al Faisal, President of Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee, signed the contract of 2034 Asian Games.

The voting procedure included online and manual as several remote attendees of NOCs voted through the online secured system while the NOC attendees in Muscat voted manually. Twenty-seven votes went to Doha, 10 to Riyadh and eight were abstentions, according to an official count.

A series of rehearsal was done on familiarising the methodology of the e-voting procedure prior to the official voting but later on, the OCA president decided to proceed with the manual voting for Muscat attendees and online for the attendees who were not present at the meeting physically.

Speaking after being awarded the bid, Qatar Olympic Committee (QOC) Secretary-General Jassim bin Rashid al Buenain and CEO of 2030 Doha bid, said: ”We are very proud with this historic moment. We would like to dedicate hosting of this top Asian event to His Highness Shaikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani, Emir of the State of Qatar, and Shaikh Joaan bin Hamad al Thani, President of Qatar Olympic Committee, and to all the Qatar’s society. All the organising committee members of 2030 Doha bid were confident to host this world-class event,” he said.

“This is a huge development for sports in Qatar and an outcome of 16 years of hard work. We had earlier successfully hosted this top Asian event. Qatar has top quality infrastructure besides the world-class complexes. It is not only the availability of good infrastructure but also the capability and ability of human resources and their experience to manage any top sporting events. Qatar is well known for hosting sports events and is leading by example,” he added. The Secretary-General of QOC thanked OCA for the fine organisation of the OCA Congress. “A special thanks to all the NOCs for their trust to position Doha to host the Asian Games. A dedicated thanks to the Sultanate of Oman for their top efforts to host the General Assembly of OCA during this tough time of pandemic and thanks to all the delegations and the attendees,” he said.

Qatar Swimming Association (QSA) President Khalil al Jaber and member of organising team at 2030 Doha pointed out that Qatar have a clear strategy depending on well-mapped plans and activities to improve further in hosting the sports events.

“Qatar has 70 top events to host every year. The readiness of infrastructure and well-structured transport system are supporting tools to better facilitate all the athletes and delegations. Future of sporting events is inline to Qatar’s vision 2030. Asian Games will require top-class complexes and we are ready to host all the 54 competitions that will be held in all the complexes,” he added.

Asma al Thani, Director of Marketing & Communications of Qatar Olympic Committee, opined that hosting the Asian Games means a lot for women. “The top sporting events impact and influence positively in the society. Many youths will get inspired by the star athletes as they attend the competitions. It will instil a dream in them to achieve medals in top sporting championships and tournaments,” she said.

Olympic champion Moataz Issa Barsham promised his best to get a medal in the 2030 Doha Asian Games if he is still doing his top performance. “I am fully ready barring no injuries. If I could not make it to the Games due to any reasons, then a ‘small Barsham’ will take my position,” he stated.

Adil Al Balushi