His Royal Highness Prince Haji Sufri Bolkiah, President of the Brunei Darussalam National Olympic Council (BDNOC) attended the 39th Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) General Assembly via video teleconference yesterday. The BDNOC led by His Royal Highness took part in an election to determine which city between Doha and Riyadh will host the 2030 Asian Games. Doha was officially confirmed as the host city of the 2030 Asian Games while Riyadh will host the 2034 edition. PHOTO: FADHIL YUNUS
His Royal Highness Prince Haji Sufri Bolkiah, President of the Brunei Darussalam National Olympic Council attended the 39th Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) General Assembly via video teleconference yesterday.
The Brunei Darussalam National Olympic Council led by His Royal Highness voted to determine, between Doha and Riyadh, the 2030 Asian Games hosting rights.
OCA President Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah said the assembly marked the first time that the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) family gathered following the COVID-19 pandemic started with a combination of both members who were physically present and virtually.
Doha has been officially confirmed as the host city of the 2030 Asian Games after receiving the most number of votes while Riyadh will be hosting the 2034 edition.
Twenty-six National Olympic Committees (NOC) members who were present in Muscat, Oman submitted their votes manually through a ballot box while the remaining 19 members submitted electronically.
Meanwhile, International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach said, “With the global coronavirus crisis, our world has changed dramatically. Nothing is as it was before.”
He added, “But even in these difficult times for our Olympic community and for the world, we can say that we turned this crisis into an opportunity.”
“With all of our many actions that we took together since the start of the crisis, we managed to strengthen the role of sport in society.”
The president expressed confidence in celebrating a safe and secure Olympic Games next year in Tokyo, Japan.
“Our top priority remains the health and safety of all participants. We are working at full speed to develop a toolbox of COVID-19 countermeasures for every possible scenario.”
“We are very encouraged in this context by the developments in rapid tests and vaccines and we will add these to the countermeasures toolbox. In this way, we are really prepared for a safe Olympic Games.”
He also encouraged members to prepare athletes for the Tokyo Olympics even if the current conditions are “difficult” adding the excellent facilities in Tokyo.
Calling for more solidarity within and among societies, the president shared that the IOC Executive Board recently agreed to increase the Olympic solidarity budget for 2021 to 2024 by 16 per cent and the direct support to athletes by 25 per cent as well as the NOC by 25 per cent.
