'We don’t want to leave a white elephant': OCA defends decision to do away with traditional Games village

NAGOYA: The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) on Friday defended the Asian Games organisers’ decision to do away with a traditional Games village and accommodate athletes across containers, hotels and cruise ships.The decision to scrap plans for an athletes’ village came after the Games budget more than tripled from the original estimate of 80-100 billion yen (Rs 48.6cr-61cr).OCA director general Husain Al-Musallam said that while an athletes’ village was desirable, its utility after the Games often did not justify the cost of construction.“You spend so much money building the athletes’ village and then we need to see what’s the utilisation of it after the Games. Considering the cost and size of the Games, we need to be a little bit flexible. The athletes’ village is good to look at. But at the end of the day, we need to be practical,” he said at a press conference here on Friday.Tayyab Ikram, head of the OCA coordination commission for the Games, said the decision was driven by the high cost of real estate and the desire to avoid leaving behind a “white elephant” after the Games.“We had clear statistics about what is happening in the real estate values. We don’t want to leave a white elephant after the Games here. It was not easy to discuss, but it was also not a compromise because we found a very unique kind of alternative,” he said.The tradition of an athletes’ village began at the 1982 Asian Games in New Delhi. The hosts of the next two editions — Doha and Riyadh — will have such villages, but Ikram, who is also FIH president, stressed that it was not mandatory for organisers to provide one.TWO-YEAR WAIT FOR BIDIndia’s bid to host the 2038 Asian Games will have to wait until 2028 for a decision on the host nation. India is among six countries to have expressed interest in hosting the Games.“We have received interest from India, Philippines and four other countries to host the Asian Games in 2038. This shows the popularity of the Asian Games,” Al-Musallam said.He said the OCA executive board had already approved the broad evaluation process.“There are 12 more years to go. The calendar is well-established. The executive board has taken a decision to create an evaluation committee to visit all those countries next year and then submit an initial report.“Based on that report, we will have a shortlist and then go for another visit 9-10 years before the Games and submit the final report,” he said.Get the latest Sports News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.