The Asian Games which is fondly called as ASIAD is a Pancontinental Multi-sport event that is held every four years in line with the Olympics. Just like sometimes the Olympics are called Olympiad, the Asian Games too is called ASIAD. The Asian Games are regulated by the Asian Games Federation or AGF, till the 1982 Asian Games in Delhi but since then it is now regulated by the Olympic Council of Asia or OCA. These games are recognized by the International Olympic Committee or IOC and it is the second-largest multi-sport event after the Olympics in the entire globe where most of the Asian countries come to gather.
The first-ever Asian Games were held in New Delhi, India in the year 1951, and the last Asian Games were played in the South Korean city of Incheon in the year 2014. To know about the nations participating and the different sports presented in Asian Games.
Interesting History about the Asian Games – ASIAD
The history of multi-sports events in Asia takes us to 1912 when there were Far Eastern Games were used to be played. The participant nations were the Empire of Japan, China, and the Philippine Islands. The last Far Eastern Games were played in 1934 but then the Sino – Japanese War happened in the same year and China withdrew from the next games as Japan insisted on including the Manchu Empire, the rival of China into the games, the 1938 edition of the Far Eastern Games were canceled and then there were no further events held.
After the Second World War got over many Asian Countries got independence and during the 1948 London Olympics, the talk about restarting the Far Eastern Games started between China and the Philippines. The Indian Olympic Committee representative at London, Guru Dutt Sondhi gave an entirely new dimension to the idea to organize a multi-sport event in which all the Asian countries could participate and from then the Asian Games Federation took birth and the first-ever Asian Games were held in New Delhi in the year 1951.
Changes in the Regulating Body
From its inception till the year 1981, the AGF faced plenty of problems, every time the game has to be organized. Either there are political problems or there are financial problems which kept on nations to either drop the idea of hosting the games or participating, but yet they were regularly held every four years. Despite the entire constitution of AGF was revised and the new body was formed as the Olympic Council of Asia, the new body allowed the New Delhi games in 1982 to continue, but from the 1986 Seoul games the new body took over the regulations of the games. In the year 1994 when the USSR was broken, its Asian nations like Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan were also included in the ASIAD. The 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia will see the last time the games are held on even-numbered years, as the OCA has decided every time to have Asian Games just a year before the Olympics hence the next ASIAD after 2018 will be held in 2023 and not in 2022.
