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Olympic Council of Asia look towards handball, Dr Moustafa in Oman

06 Jan. 2021

Olympic Council of Asia look towards handball, Dr Moustafa in Oman

IHF President Dr Hassan Moustafa was a special guest recently at the 39th Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) General Assembly in Muscat, Oman.

In addition to attending the General Assembly, Dr Moustafa met with the Oman Handball Association and the Oman Olympic Committee as well as with His Excellency Mohamed Abdullah Al-Ahjri, Secretary General of the Yemen Olympic Committee, and His Excellency Feras Mouala, President of the Syrian Olympic Committee.

Handball prominent on new OCA board
Korea Handball Federation (KHF) President Chey Tae-won was unanimously appointed by the General Assembly as Vice President to oversee the 90 sports federations which take part in the five OCA multi-sport games.

The position was created last year with Chey now sitting on the OCA Executive Committee, which directs, supervises and decides on major matters in preparation for major international sports events hosted by the OCA. Chey has served as head of the KHF since 2008.

The OCA General Assembly itself saw a ‘full house’ of partners and stakeholders both in person and virtually, with travel restrictions and health protocols in place due to coronavirus pandemic. President of the International Olympic Committee, Dr Thomas Bach delivered a 12-minute video message.

The meeting also heard from the organising committees of the three OCA games in 2021 and the 2022 Asian Games. Reports were received from the five OCA Vice Presidents representing the five zones and the 17 OCA committees while presentations were also made by the IOC Olympic Solidarity funding division and the Association of National Olympic Committees.

Signing off the General Assembly, Sheikh Ahmad praised the Olympic spirit he had seen amongst his members.

“It has been a difficult year for all of us, and a tragic year for many people around the world,” he said. “But I have witnessed many instances in which the Olympic sports family has come together to help each other and keep up the Olympic spirit.

“Once again you can feel the spirit of unity and cooperation in these meetings, and how everyone is working together for the good of the Olympic movement in Asia. This is a remarkable achievement and shows the trust and solidarity within the Asian sports movement.”

2030 and 2034 Asian Games awarded
The General Assembly also awarded hosting rights to the 21st Asian Games in 2030 to Doha, Qatar, and the 22nd Asian Games in 2034 to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

“With this historic hosting award, the OCA now has host cities in place for the next four Asian Games, meaning the next available date is 2038,” said Sheikh Ahmad referring to the 2022 edition being held in Hangzhou, China and 2026 event taking place in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan.

Leading political figures in both countries tweeted their happiness after the announcement with the Emir of Qatar, HRH Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani saying: “Doha 2030 will be a qualitative leap and an embodiment of Qatar’s sporting mission as a means to enhance communication and human and cultural understanding.”

Saudi Arabia Minister of Sport and President of the Saudi Arabia Olympic Committee, HRH Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal said: “We promise to organise an exceptional edition and an unforgettable experience.”

Men’s handball has been at the event since 1982, with the women’s competition joining in 1990, the first Asian Games were held in 1951 with the roots of international multi-sport events in Asia ‘dating back to the first Oriental Championships in Manila, Philippines in 1913’, according to the OCA.

6th Asian Beach Games further delayed
The OCA have announced the 6th Asian Beach Games, due to be held in Sanya City, China from 2 to 10 April, have been further postponed after initially being moved from 28 November to 6 December 2020.

The OCA Executive Board decision was made after in-depth discussions between the OCA, the Chinese Olympic Committee and the Sanya Asian Beach Games Organising Committee (SABGOC) and has been made due to ‘the situation regarding the global COVID-19 pandemic, travel restrictions and health protocols around the continent,’ according to a statement on the OCA website.

The multi-sport event will feature men’s and women’s beach handball and the announcement follows the success of the ‘Beautiful Sanya Lishan Distillery Cup Beach Handball Invitational 2020’ event which took place at the ‘Beach Handball Arena’ on Sanya’s Tianya Haijiao beach in November. www.ihf.info/media-center/news/sanya-beach-handball-invitational-success

New dates will be announced soon with more about the 6th Asian Beach Games – Sanya 2020, available at www.sanya2020.cn.

Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games sports entry open
The Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games Organising Committee (HAGOC) officially launched the Sports Entry process for the event with all participating National Olympic Committees (NOCs) receiving notification about registration of their athletes and intention to participate – a must for all NOCs that intend to take part in continental multi-sport event.

The 19th Asian Games will run from 10 to 25 September, 2022 featuring 40 sports, 61 disciplines and 482 events.

For more information on the OCA, visit their official website.