Officials gather in Kuwait for the inaugural OCA Sport Congress which begins Thursday. (OCA)IOC President Jacques Rogge opened the Olympic Council of Asia's new headquarters in Kuwait in a lavish ceremony attended by a host of Olympic dignitaries Wednesday.
OCA President Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, Director General Husain Al-Musallam and several IOC members were among the participants in the inauguration ceremony of the new headquarters at Olympia in Kuwait City.
A cultural show included performances from all five Asian zones -- East, South East, South, Central and West. It was part of a program of four days of OCA activities – including the first OCA Sport Congress.
The OCA Sport Congress opens Thursday under the slogan “Asia Together” and is considered a milestone for the continental association.
Al-Musallam tells Around the Rings that it is “very important” to the OCA's development.
The OCA president told Kuwaiti media that the congress “will prove to be an excellent opportunity for all the sports leaders of Asia to gather and exchange views, not only on the sporting aspects of the Olympic Movement but also on other important issues such as the environment, anti-doping, sport and society and sport and peace.”
Rogge and Al-Sabah will deliver keynote speeches at the opening session, which takes place in the Arraya Ballroom of the Courtyard Marriott Hotel. A press conference is scheduled for about 11 a.m.
More than 750 delegates from throughout the Olympic Movement are attending the congress, including IOC Executive Board members, representatives of the OCA's 45 national Olympic Committees, Asian sports federations and international sports federations.
There will be 130 speakers over the three days, focusing on the six themes of the conference in a series of workshops. The themes are: sports science in OCA President Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah says the congress will be an excellent forum for all the sports leaders of Asia to gather and exchange ideas (Yasser Al-Zayyat/AFP/Getty Images)Asia; governance of sports in Asia; women's sports in Asia; sports marketing in Asia; Asian Games and sports and the environment.
OCA Sport Congress Commission Director Reza Gharakhanlou, who played a leading role in organizing the program, revealed earlier this week that 315 scientific papers had been received from 17 Asian countries. Only 53 of them were selected for 15-minute presentations in the workshops.
He said there was “high expectation within the OCA Family.”
“These three days will be a very crucial and critical moment, and there is a general responsibility for all of us to help and have a successful congress,” he told commission members Tuesday.
The speakers are drawn from 26 Asian countries, six non-Asian countries and six international sports organizations.
“The fact that we received papers from 17 Asian countries, and that all 45 Asian NOCs will be attending, is a big step,” he said. “Next time we would like to receive papers from all 45 NOCs.”
The OCA says it will break new ground in the study of sports science at the congress. The aim is to link practice and theory through academic and scientific research, according to organizers.
The four days of OCA activities began Wednesday with a children's fun run in Salmiya, southeast of Kuwait City, to promote the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, China.
That was followed by the launch of the boat "Cocochin," which will sail from Kuwait to Guangzhou via ports in all regions of the Asian continent on an Olympic torch-style journey dubbed the "Road of Asia" project.
With reporting from Mark Bisson.
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