2030 Asian Games bid race 

Over the last month, the phenomenon of hosting Asia’s major sports event and its corresponding impacts have sparked a heated debate. The benefits of hosting major sports event far outweigh the drawbacks. 

Bidding to host Asia’s major sports event is a blessing which can increase a nation’s reputation and help it gain continental acceptance. 

The raise in profile further provides economic benefits by attracting tourists and large investment. For instance, a research conducted by the Chinese Ministry of Economic Affairs showed a 56% increase in business investment to China after Beijing hosted the Summer Olympics in 2008. South Africa successfully reduced its unemployment rate to 12% in the year ahead of World Cup in 2014. Hence, it is impossible to deny the short-term economic benefits of hosting major sports events. 

Furthermore, significant long-term investment must be considered before hosting sports events. Governments would invest in building sports infrastructure, public transportation, and athletic accommodation, which ultimately create numberless job opportunities around the cities. 

I believe that bidding to host the 2030 Asian Games may have a different approach as both Qatar and Saudi Arabia go head-to-head in the 2030 Asian Games bid race. The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) announced that Qatar's capital Doha and Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, had submitted candidacies prior to the deadline set on Sunday the 4th of October 2020. 

The Asian Games has grown into the biggest multi-sport event in the world. At the most recent Asian Games, in Jakarta and Palembang, Indonesia in 2018, 11,300 athletes from 45 national Olympic committees took part in 465 events of 40 sports. The 19th Asian Games will be held in Hangzhou, China, from 10-25 September 2022 and the 20th Asian Games will take place in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, from 19 September to 4 October 2026. 

The OCA is an independent, non-governmental not-for-profit international Asian sports organization for unlimited duration recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the Association of National Olympic Committee (ANOC), and the 45 member Asian National Olympic Committees (NOCs).

The OCA has announced the composition of an evaluation committee to visit the two cities bidding to host the 2030 Asian Games. The members will cover every aspect of planning, preparation, management, and operations of the Asian Games. Members are well known sports leaders throughout Asia with a lot of experience from the Asian Games and Olympic Games. The committee consist of Chairman Wei Jizhong, Chair of the OCA Entourage Committee Mr. Ryu Seung Min, Member of the Athletes Committee Ms. Mikaela Cojuangco, President of the National Olympic Committee of Lebanon Mr. Jean Hammam, Secretary General of the National Olympic Committee of Afghanistan Prof. Mohamed Yunus Popalzay, Secretary General of the National Olympic Committee of Turkmenistan Mr. Azat Muradov, First Vice President of the National Olympic Committee Mongolia Mr. Battushig Batbold, Director General of OCA Mr. Husain Al Musallam, and two representatives from the OCA Headquarters Kuwait. The committee is set to visit both cities in the third week of October to make assessments of the projects. 

The practical organization of the Asian Games is extremely complex. The detailed plans of how each city proposes to deliver the Games are set out in the candidature file. During a visit to each city, the commission will verify the information presented in the candidature file and study the feasibility of implementing each city’s plans as proposed. The commission’s findings shall include vision, concept and legacy, sport and competition venues, games village, accommodation, transport, media operations, environment, safety and security, medical services and doping control, legal aspects, games governance and delivery, political and public support, marketing, and finance. 

Each city must be able to present its case by explaining why it wishes to be selected to organize the Asian Games and, with its own vision, each offers a unique opportunity for Asia. 

The mandate of the evaluation commission is to carry out a technical risk assessment to assist OCA members in the difficult task of electing the host city of the 2030 Asian Games. 

Saudi Arabia solidified its bid to host the nation’s first-ever Asian Games when officials revealed the Riyadh 2030 bid book. Saudi Arabia joins its bordering geopolitical rival Qatar as the only two remaining candidates to host the second largest international multi-sport event next to the Olympic Games. 

The Saudi bid unveiled its logo depicting a map of Saudi Arabia enclosing several sport pictograms. Officials also dropped the new tagline, “Transforming The Future”, both representing goals of inspiring new dreams, reaching new horizons, and setting new standards for what it means to host the Asian Games. 

The Saudi bid presentation addressed international concerns regarding poor treatment of women in the Kingdom, and the lack of female participation in sports. For Saudi Arabia, this bid represents the future of generations of young boys and girls. 

The Doha 2030 Asian Games bid committee also submitted its candidature file, which details the bid’s inspirational, sustainable plan that will provide a gateway to certainty and an enduring legacy for Asia. Doha 2030 is a national priority for Qatar.

The bid committee has drawn from Doha’s extensive sports events hosting experience and leveraged its wealth of existing state-of-the-art venues and infrastructure to develop its world-leading plan. With all permanent sports venues in place or already planned, Doha 2030 is able to focus on delivering a Games that brings benefits to all of Asia before and after 2030. 

In the last 15 years alone, Qatar has hosted more than 500 major international sports events, conferences, and training camps. 

Doha hosted the 2006 Asian Games, an event which was seen to have encouraged them to bid for other global events. This included the FIFA World Cup which Qatar will host in 2022 after being controversially awarded the tournament in 2010. 

Doha and Riyadh are also bidding for the 2027 Asian Cup, trying to raise their profile in sports event hosting. 

There is no doubt that greater transparency in terms of bidding processes and decision-making can help in the fair election of the bidding cities. 

The host city of the 21st Asian Games 2030 will be decided at the 39th OCA General Assembly, due to be held in Muscat, Oman on 16 December 2020. 

I wish both the candidate cities the absolute best of luck.