Busan may be stripped Asian Games

The top leader of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) has expressed an intention to strip Busan City of South Korea of the right to host the 2002 Asian Games in the next OCA congress.

Kyodo News Agency Sunday quoted Itar Tass from Moscow that president of OCA Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah made such a remark after a directors` meeting of the OCA in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, expressing discontent with Busan`s poor preparations for the Asiad.

As for the next OCA congress slated for November in Busan, Ahmed said that OCA would deprive Pusan of the right to host the congress and then decide the new venue for the meeting and the date. If the Asian Games venue is changed midway with only about two years away, it will cause a serious confusion to the participating countries and players. The news agency also reported that since Busan is suffering from a serious shortage of funds now, the National Olympic Committees (NOC) of the OCA member countries are complaining of the issues of confirming the number of official sports and securing funds.