OCA looks to scale down Asian Games
With the Games becoming increasingly tough to manage for the host nation, the focus is on trying to make them more sustainable
New Delhi: The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) may look to downsize the Asian Games by taking away certain team sports and some non-Olympic sports. With the Games becoming increasingly tough to manage for the host nations, the OCA has already spoken to the Asian Football Confederation to reduce the number of teams for the 2026 Asiad.
“We are already talking to federations. We have done that with football. We are also talking to handball, hockey, volleyball and some other federations,” OCA’s deputy director general Vinod Tiwari said on Thursday.
More than 15,000 athletes reportedly competed at the Hangzhou Asian Games last year with team competitions accounting for a major chunk. The recently-concluded Paris Olympics witnessed participation from about 10,500 athletes.
“In Hangzhou, we had 38 football teams and that is a lot,” he added. The 2026 edition of the Asian Games will be hosted by Nagoya and Aichi in Japan.
The 44th General Assembly of OCA will be held in the capital this Sunday where veteran sports administrator Raja Randhir Singh is set to be elected unopposed as the president. Singh is currently OCA’s acting president.
Another topic on the agenda will be the inclusion of Yoga as a demonstration sport in the 2026 edition.
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