OCA Says 'Clean' Busan Asiad Great Success

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, October 13, 2002

OCA Says 'Clean' Busan Asiad Great Success

Three days away from the closing ceremony, the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) has expressed its confidence that the Asian Games here would be a great success both on and off the field.

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Three days away from the closing ceremony, the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) has expressed its confidence that the Asian Games here would be a great success both on and off the field.

Muttaleb Ahmed, OCA Director General, told Xinhua on Saturday that the would-be success comes mainly from the fact that "it is so far a very clean Games".

"There is no one single positive case (in the ongoing Asian Games)," he said.

He did not shy away from the case that a Lebanese bodybuilder was stripped of its bronze medal for refusal to undergo doping test.

"But our laboratory has no positive cases," he said.

"It is one of our greatest moments for us, and we hope that in the next few days it has no more cases," he added.

Another factor behind the Games' success lies with the viewership which Ahmed said that is estimated to have exceeded 3.8 billion viewers, a record set by the Bangkok Asiad in 1998.

Besides the Asian continent, the Asian Games has attracted attention from the United States, Canada to Europe where Asian communities are closely following up the Olympics of Asia, according to Ahmed.

"We are happy that the Asian Games is taking such a vast viewership," he said. "And it is gathering greater momentum."

Ahmed would not forget the great significance of the participation of three countries -- the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPR Korea), East Timor and Afghanistan, thinking their presence itself is a big success of the Games.

It is the first time for DPR Korea to show up at the multi-sports games held in South Korea since the Korean Armistice Agreement signed in July 1953.

East Timor, the newest country in the world as it declared independence from Indonesia in May, has been given a temporary membership to attend the Asiad.

It is also the first Asian Games for Afghanistan since the routof the Taliban regime, which had ruled the landlocked central Asian country for six years.

"That is the greatest manifestation of peace as well as the harmony of Asian nations," he said.

On the marketing side, he said that though far less than they have expected, the OCA could not be more satisfied with the revenue considering the slump of the world's economy.

Compared against the target of 120 million U.S. dollars, the Busan Asiad collected 68.5 million from the sponsors and broadcasting rights sales.

"Despite a global slowdown in economy, I think we have achieveda fair amount of revenues," he said.

Ahmed said that the success of the Busan Asiad will further their determination to have more non-capital cities involved in the hosting of the Asiad.

The regional sports event used to be held only in the capital cities of countries until Hiroshima in 1994. Busan is the second non-capital city to host the event of such magnitude.

"This proves the theory that the Games should be spread from capitals to non-capital cities. I think our plan is working," saidAhmed.

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