Moving the Asian Games to odd-numbered years will give athletes a “clear path” to Olympic qualification, a Hong Kong sports chief said on Wednesday.
The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) has approved moving the regional quadrennial multi-sport event to the year before its global cousin, starting with the 2031 edition in Doha.
Approved by the council’s executive board last weekend, the governing body’s vice-president Song Luzeng said it would allow the Games to serve as a qualifying event for the Olympics, giving “more elite athletes valuable competition opportunities and raising the overall standard of the Games”.
Qualification is currently managed by international federations and Song said the OCA was in the final stage of discussions with some of them on the new plan.
Switching years would mean a rare five-year gap between the Games in Japan this September, and the following event in Qatar, but Kenneth Fok, vice-president of the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China (SF&OC), said that was of little concern.
“The real long-term significance is the shift to odd-year scheduling and the intention to use the Asian Games as an Olympic qualifying event,” he said.