The Vietnamese capital surpassed Indonesia’s second largest city, Surabaya in a tense final vote yesterday, finishing first in the race for staging the 18th edition of the continent’s biggest sporting event.
Earlier, United Arab Emirates' Dubai pulled out of the bidding at the last minute, leaving Hanoi and Surabaya as the remaining two bidders.
OCA’s Chief Executive Officer, Hussain Al-Musallam, expressed his sincere happiness about Vietnam’s victory and believed that Vietnam would fulfill their commitment with successful organisation of the 18th Asiad within the next seven years.
Vietnam has had a lot of experience in hosting regional and continental sporting events, successfully organising the 2003 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games and the 3rd Asian Indoor Games in 2009.
The country will play host to the 2016 Asian Beach Games in Nha Trang city, central Khanh Hoa province, before staging the 18th Asian Games three years later for the first time ever.
Approximately 10,000 athletes, trainers and coaches from 45 Asian nations and territories will compete in 35 disciplines at the Games, which are proposed to be held on 14 venues throughout the country under an estimated cost of US$150 million.
The 17th version of the Games will take place in Incheon, the Republic of Korea, in 2014.
