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What's the story?
The 2018 Asian Games to be held in Jakarta, received a final nod of approval during the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) Executive Board meeting on Tuesday. The mega-event has finally confirmed on including 40 sports and 462 gold medal events, after elongated debates and meetings. The final selection includes all the sports which are set to feature in the Olympic programme at Tokyo in 2020, except for surfing.
“Basically, we had already agreed on 39 sports but the policy that we have to follow is what is on the 2020 Olympic Games in Japan so that is why a new one has come up,” Indonesia Organizing Committee's secretary, General Eris Herryanto said, after Indonesia presented their final plans to the Olympic Council of Asia on Wednesday.
In case you didn't know
The 40 sports figure is lower from the 42 sports that the Olympics Council of Asia (OCA) announced in March, and one more than what Indonesia's organizing committee had decided.
The heart of the matter
It is speculated that the increase to 462 events, from the earlier 431 decided in April, is due to the concerns of International Federations (IFs), that some important events on the Olympics programme were missing out.
The final list includes the 33 sports that will be held at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, along with other popular events in Asia such as sepak takraw, kabaddi, jet ski, paragliding, bridge and additional martial arts.
This also means that cricket, which featured at the Asian Games in 2010 and 2014, will no longer be a part of the quadrennial event.
What's next?
The Asian Games are going to commence next year in August. Eris Herryanto told the press that the process of building the infrastructure is going strong. The organizing committee of Indonesia is being supported by the Ministry of Public Affairs and they are confident of getting everything ready in time.
Author's take
It's been more than 50 years that Indonesia has hosted Asian Games. The last time Indonesia hosted the Asian Games was in 1962, when there were fewer than 1,500 athletes and 13 sports. This time, however, it will definitely be the biggest sports event that has ever been held in the island nation.
