Bangkok, Thailand, November 3, 2019: The Director General of the Olympic Council of Asia, Husain Al Musallam, welcomed delegates to the first of two regional forums at the Arnoma Grand Hotel in Bangkok on Sunday.
The two forums are being organised by the OCA in cooperation with the IOC’s Olympic Solidarity and the National Olympic Committee of Thailand.
The first forum, for NOCs from East Asia and South East Asia, will run from November 3-4 and the second forum, for NOCs from West Asia, Central Asia and South Asia, will take place on November 5-6.
The OCA Director General said the main focus of the two forums would be final NOC preparations for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games but added that there would be important presentations from future co-host cities of OCA events including the 6th Asian Beach Games in Sanya, China in 2020 and the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China in 2022.
“As you know, Asia is one of the most active continental organisations in the world in terms of organising multi-sport games and developing the sports movement in Asia,” said Mr Al-Musallam.
“Sport and the Olympic Movement in Asia has grown a lot and this is not automatic; it is due to the unity and solidarity and the support of Olympic Solidarity.”
The IOC Member for Thailand, Khunying Patama Leeswadtrakul, joined the forum and said she was very thankful for the “commitment and hard work” of the NOCs in preparing for the forum and for the Olympic Games.
The head of the Olympic Solidarity delegation from IOC HQ in Lausanne, Switzerland, Olivier Niamkey, encouraged the delegates to contribute to this interactive and informal forum so that all points raised could be shared with other NOCs.
“The forum is a great opportunity to learn and exchange and share experiences,” he said. “The IOC really wants to put the athletes at the centre of the games and, through this forum, we can focus on giving them their best preparation and performance.”
The Tokyo Olympic Games will take place from July 24 to August 9, 2020, with 33 sports and 339 events at 42 competition venues. There will be over 11,000 athletes from the world’s 206 NOCs, with a record 48.5 female athlete participation.
The topics on the first morning included sport entries and accreditation, with a special presentation on Olympic boxing which is not being organised by the International Federation AIBA due to IOC suspension. The Asia/Oceania boxing qualifier will be in Wuhan, China from February 3-14.
