Kuwait City: The General Assembly of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) held its 45th meeting on Monday in Kuwait, attended by heads of National Olympic Committees from 45 Asian countries, including Kuwait, which was represented by the President of the Kuwait Olympic Committee, Sheikh Fahad Nasser Al-Sabah. The meeting was chaired by the Kuwaiti Director of the Council, Hussain Al-Musallam.
According to Kuwait News Agency, the assembly commenced with a speech from the newly elected President of the International Olympic Committee, Kirsty Coventry from Zimbabwe, who underscored the significance of sport as a medium for communication and unity among athletes. Coventry accentuated the opportunity it provides athletes to express themselves and engage actively in their communities, expressing her pride in attending this major continental event.
Coventry, set to officially assume her position in June, pointed out that Asia has played a pivotal role in Olympic sports, demonstrated by its success in hosting events like the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea, the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics, and the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. She commended Asian countries for their proficient organization of Olympic sporting events at both international and continental levels, praising the organization by the OCA and the Kuwaiti Olympic Committee for the opening ceremony and the meeting.
The assembly proceeded with reports from the Vice Presidents of the Olympic Council of Asia for each region, including Timothy Fok from Hong Kong for East Asia, Dr. Norza Zakaria from Malaysia for Southeast Asia, Prince Jigyel Ugyen Wangchuck from Bhutan for South Asia, Otabek Umarov from Uzbekistan for Central Asia, and Dr. Thani Al-Kuwari from Qatar for West Asia.
Reports were also presented by Witold Banka, President of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), and by the organizing committees of the Hangzhou 2023 Asian Summer Games and the Harbin 2025 Asian Winter Games in China. Presentations from the organizing committees of upcoming games provided updates on their latest preparations, including the Asian Youth Games Bahrain 2025, the Asian Games Nagoya, Japan 2026, the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games Riyadh 2026, and the Asian Winter Games NEOM 2029.
The meeting concluded with the annual reports from the working committees of the Council, presented by the heads of the permanent committees.