OCA hosts General Assembly in Da Nang, Vietnam
The Olympic Council of Asia hosted its 35th General Assembly on Sunday in Da Nang, Vietnam on the side-lines of the OCA’s 5th Asian Beach Games. The meeting was attended by IOC President Thomas Bach who delivered a speech in which he praised the OCA and the Asian NOCs for their contribution to the Olympic Movement and congratulated the them on the growing strength of sport in the region.
During the meeting, the OCA General Assembly approved the decision to open regional offices in the OCA’s five zones – in Bangkok, Thailand (South East Asia); in Almaty, Kazakhstan (Central Asia); in Delhi, India (South Asia); in Nansha, China (East Asia ); and in Kuwait (West Asia). In addition, the OCA will also open an office in the Olympic Capital, Lausanne.
The General Assembly also approved the city of Nagoya, Japan as the host of the 2026 Asian Games and supported the proposal to allow Oceania athletes to compete at the Asian Winter Games 2017 in Sapporo, Japan. The athletes would compete as guests at the competition and their results would not count towards the overall medal table but it would provide them with an opportunity to develop their experience of competing at world-class winter events.
ANOC Secretary General Gunilla Lindberg was also in attendance and gave a presentation to the General Assembly which included an overview of the recent ANOC Executive Council meetings, the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, PyeongChang 2018, ANOC’s partnerships with the Russian International Olympic University (RIOU) and iSR Academy and the upcoming ANOC General Assembly in Doha.
The OCA General Assembly took place the day after the opening of the 5th Asian Beach Games which will be held between 24 September and 3 October. More than 2,200 athletes from 42 countries and regions will compete in in the competition across 14 different sports.
