(ATR) The two Indonesian cities hosting the 18th Asian Games 2018 receive praise as the planning phase ends and the operational stage begins.
The Olympic Council of Asia completed the eighth Coordination Committee meeting over the weekend, visiting venues in Palembang and Jakarta with the organizing committee INASGOC.
"We have discussed in detail the progress of the 18th Asian Games and we are very satisfied with what we have seen in both Palembang and Jakarta," Tsunekazu Takeda, the chairman of the OCA’s Coordination Committee, said in a statement.
The OCA now wants INASGOC to finalize the games schedule, with daily timings for each sports session, as soon as possible, and to send the updated technical handbooks for each sport to all participating NOCs before the end of this month.
"We have emphasized that we are in operational and implementation mode and that the planning phase is over," Takeda said.
This will be the first time that the Asian Games has been held in co-host cities, and the first time for Jakarta to host the event since the fourth edition in 1962.
The Deputy Governor of Jakarta, Sandiaga Uno, told the Coordination Committee members that his team is working to provide an efficient transportation management plan for the games. The Asian Games Test Event Series in Jakarta next month will be used to provide a case study for the games later in the year.
The 18th Asian Games will run from August 18 to September 2 and will involve 10,000 athletes from the OCA’s 45 member National Olympic Committees in 40 sports and 462 events.
Eleven of the sports will be held at the Jakabaring Sports City in Palembang, which is an hour’s flight from Jakarta. The complex includes the Athletes’ Village and has been used to host international multi-sport games before, including the 26th South East Asian (SEA) Games in 2011.
The Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta will host the opening and closing ceremonies as well as the athletics. The newly refurbished stadium was inaugurated with a soccer match between Indonesia and Iceland on Sunday, attended by Indonesia’s president and vice-president.
The stadium is the centerpiece of the Senayan Sports Complex. The complex has undergone a total renovation in terms of venues and landscaping ahead of the Asian Games.
Written by Gerard Farek
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