Joint-city bids ruled out by OCA as Hanoi wins Asian Games for 2019
There was rejoicing in Vietnam as its capital was picked to host the 2019 showpiece, while multi-city bids were given the thumbs-down
A joint-city bid for the 2023 Asian Games was ruled out by the head of the Olympic Council of Asia yesterday after Hanoi was declared the winner of the 2019 edition, defeating Indonesia's Surabaya in a tight race.
There were suggestions from certain sections of the OCA previously that a joint bid by Hong Kong, Macau and Shenzhen for the 2023 Games might be attractive and cost-saving.
But Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahad al-Sabah, the OCA president, said preference would always be given to a single city.
"Usually a big multi-sports event like the Olympics or the Asian Games should be held in one city. If that city has problems hosting any particular sport, like Beijing did with equestrian [at the 2008 Olympics], then maybe another city could come into the picture. But I prefer one city," Sheikh Ahmad said,
Hong Kong had hoped to bid for the 2019 Games but the proposal was shot down by Legco, which said it was too expensive and the money would be better spent elsewhere.
A 2023 bid is still a possibility but Hong Kong's Olympic chief, Timothy Fok Tsun-ting, has sought to downplay any such moves, preferring to test the water in Macau in the past couple of days.
