The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) has announced that it has received only two bids to host their flagship event, Asian Games, in 2030.
The deadline to submit an official bid for 2030 Asian games was 22nd April 2020.
The bids were submitted by only two countries – Doha, the capital city of Qatar and Riyadh, the capital city of Saudi Arabia.
While Qatar has hosted the 15th edition of the Asian Games in 2006, Saudi Arabia made its debut of the bidding process and would host the games for the first time if they are elected. The election for the same will held on 29th November 2020 at the OCA General Assembly.
The 19th (2022) & 20th Asiads (2026) will be celebrated in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China & Aichi Prefecture and Nagoya, Japan, respectively.
Hangzhou will be the third Chinese city to host the Asian Games, after Beijing 1990 and Guangzhou 2010 while Nagoya will be the third Japanese city to host the Games, after Tokyo in 1958 and Hiroshima in 1994.
President of the Olympic Council of Asia, Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, said: “The OCA is delighted to receive two strong bids for our Asian Games in 2030. It shows the trust and confidence in the Olympic Movement in Asia and further enhances our reputation of hosting world-class sporting events on a major scale.”
He further added “With these two bids for the 2030 Asian Games we now have stability and continuity in our sports movement for the next decade. This will allow our National Olympic Committees, our administrators and, above all, our athletes to make solid plans for the future in the short term, medium-term and long term. It puts us in an envious position in terms of our sports calendar and highlights again that Asia is a major partner in the global Olympic movement.”
Why didn’t India bid to host the 2030 Asian Games?
Even though showing clear intention back in 2018 to bid and host the Asian Games in 2030, the Indian Ministry stepped back at the last minute unable to submit the bid before the proposed deadline by OCA.
The OCA invited all 45 members National Olympic Committee on January 23, 2020, to bid for the 2030 Games with a deadline of 22nd April 2020.
During this time, the world was taken by storm by a new pandemic spreading rapidly. The priorities of all nations changed and India was no different.
The Indian Olympic Association revealed that due to the virus and lockdown in the country their movement was restricted and could not complete the necessary formalities for the bid. Their first priority became the safety and well-being of their athletes first.
“I wish the two countries the best. We could not complete the formalities after the virus outbreak. We will now aim to bid for the 2034 edition” said Narinder Batra, IOA President.
India hosted the inaugural edition of the Asian Games in 1951 and have hosted the event again only once in 1982 since.
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Here is a list of all the host cities in the history of Asiads.
| YEAR | CITY |
| 1951 | New Delhi |
| 1954 | Manila, Philippines |
| 1958 | Tokyo, Japan |
| 1962 | Jakarta, Indonesia |
| 1966 | Bangkok, Thailand |
| 1970 | Bangkok, Thailand |
| 1974 | Tehran, Iran |
| 1978 | Bangkok, Thailand |
| 1982 | New Delhi, India |
| 1986 | Seoul, Korea |
| 1990 | Beijing, China |
| 1994 | Hiroshima, Japan |
| 1998 | Bangkok, Thailand |
| 2002 | Busan, Korea |
| 2006 | Doha, Qatar |
| 2010 | Guangzhou, China |
| 2014 | Incheon, Korea |
| 2018 | Jakarta-Palembang, Indonesia |