Turkmenistan Rolls Out Red Carpet for Asian Olympic Leaders

(ATR) Turkmenistan aims to impress Asian NOC leaders as the central Asian nation takes a key step toward becoming a global sports presence.

Delegates and guests have arrived to the Turkmenistan capital of Ashgabat for the 34th Olympic Council of Asia General Assembly, September 15-16.

OCA president Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah officially opened the two luxurious new hotels where the two-day meeting is taking place - the Sport and Olympiya Hotels - in Ashgabat on Monday morning.

The OCA finance committee met later Monday at the Sport Hotel, but the official opening of the general assembly comes Tuesday evening, preceded by an OCA executive board meeting earlier in the day.

NOC leaders from 45 Asian and 19 Oceania nations will convene at the general assembly at which OCA president Sheik Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah will be re-elected for a new term.

Sheikh Ahmad, who has been OCA president since 1991, is the lone candidate running in the election.

"If the NOCs give me the honor of being re-elected president of the OCA, I will continue to work with each and every one of them to empower them to realize their full potential," Sheikh Ahmad said.

Turkmen president Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and the Sheikh will welcome atteendees at the Tuesday evening opening ceremony staged in a spacious training hall on the grounds of the developing Olympic complex in Ashgabat.

The two-day meeting in Ashgabat takes on added significance for Turkmenistan as it comes two years prior to the capital city hosting the 5th Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games in 2017. Athletes from Asia and Oceania will compete for medals in 21 sports contested at 30 state-of-the-art facilities.

A progress report from AIMAG 2017 organizers will be delivered at the opening ceremony.

Other items on the general assembly agenda include the election of a host city for the 2022 Asian Games. The Chinese city of Hangzhou, the capital of China’s Zheijang province is the only bidder for the Games.

Delegates from the 45 NOCs will also vote for vice presidents of the five OCA zones for a 2015-2019 term.

Progress reports from the organizing committees of the DaNang 2016 Asian Winter Beach Games, Sapporo 2017 Asian Winter Games and the Jakarta 2018 Asian Games will also be presented.

"The general assembly is a very important meeting in our annual calendar as it gives us the opportunity to bring all our NOCs together, update them on our progress and identify the areas we can improve the support we provide them," said Sheikh Ahmad, who also heads the Association of National Olympic Committees.

"At the OCA we are committed to using sport as a vehicle to unite and empower Asia’s 4.4 billion people to create a more equal and harmonious future.

"Asia is the world’s largest and most diverse continent but our love of sport is a commonality which unites us. We have made excellent progress in promoting sport and Olympism throughout Asia but there is always more we can do."

Written and reported in Ashgabat byBrian Pinelli

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