Jakarta gets nod as 2019 Asiad host
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The Olympic Council of Asia (OCT) yesterday selected Jakarta to host the next Asian Games in 2019, replacing Vietnam, which had earlier withdrawn citing economic problems.
OCT president Sheikh Ahmad Al Fahad Al Sabah confirmed that the Indonesian capital and Hanoi were the two finalists and that the former had received approval to organise the 18th Asiad.
The OCT’s decision to stage the next Games in 2019 instead of 2018, as scheduled, was to allow athletes to use the Asiad as preparation for the 2020 Olympics, he explained. However, Jakarta still prefers the original schedule of a 2018 Asiad. The OCT will arrive at a decision on the matter during its General Assembly meeting tomorrow. Indonesia, which staged the 4th Games in 1962, is one of three Asean nations to have hosted the Asian Games, along with Thailand and the Philippines.
