23 April,2009 01:37 PM IST | | AFP
India stands a "very good" chance of hosting the Asian Games in 2018, Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) president Sheikh Ahmad Al Sabah said.
Sheikh Ahmad, who was here on a day-long visit, told reporters that if the Commonwealth Games are hosted successfully in New Delhi next year it will go a long way in helping India's Asiad bid.
"India are the founders of the Asian Games movement and have vast experience in holding the Games twice in 1951 and 1982," Sheikh Ahmad said late Wednesday.
"Eighty per cent of the infrastructure created for the Commonwealth Games can be used for the Asiad. It has good facilities like communication and transportation.
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"And over the decades, professionalism has grown and marketing has become better. India has a very good chance to host the Games again in 2018."
New Delhi lost a bid for the 2014 Asiad to the South Korean city of Incheon after the then sports minister Mani Shankar Aiyar publicly denounced holding major sporting events as a "waste of money."
Aiyar had said he would prefer the money be spent on developing sport at the grassroots level.
Indian Olympic Association secretary-general Randhir Singh said on Thursday Aiyar's comments had "spoilt our hard work" but that the country would make a strong bid for the 2018 Asian Games.
"We will be better prepared for 2018 since there is enough time to prepare both the athletes and the infrastructure," said Singh, a long-time member of the International Olympic Committee.
"Our aim is to host the Olympics in 2020 and getting the Asiad two years earlier will be very helpful."
Sheikh Ahmad said there were no security concerns in India despite the Mumbai terrorist attacks last November.
"We are friends of India," he said. "It is our duty to send a message everywhere that India is as secure a place as anywhere else in the world.
"As the OCA president it is my duty to see that the Games are held safely and well and we are committed to that and ready to work shoulder to shoulder with the Government of India."
A decision on the 2018 host city will be taken after next year's Asian Games in the Chinese city of Guangzhou.
