The 2030 Asian Games will be hosted by Doha, Qatar while the 2034 Asiad has been awarded to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) announced on Wednesday.
Qatar’s capital Doha was announced as the winner after a vote by 45 OCA member committees at the 39th OCA General Assembly held in Muscat, Oman and online.
The process was hampered by repeated delays caused by problems with the online voting system.
Riyadh ended up runner-up to Doha for the 2030 Asian Games and was thus awarded the 2034 edition. “I will be glad to have two games in west Asia, to be honest,” said OCA President Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah.
Doha hosted the 15th Asian Games in 2006, but Saudi Arabia has never organised an OCA multi-sport event. The next two Asian Games will be held in East Asia, China’s Hangzhou in 2022 and Japan’s Aichi and Nagoya in 2026, before the Games move to West Asia.