Cambodia to hold OCA Forum, Asiad run
The National Olympic Committee of Cambodia will host the Olympic Solidarity/Olympic Council of Asia Regional Forum from May 7 to 9 at a venue yet to be decided.
The forum will kick off the three-day gathering of 23 National Olympic Committees from South East Asia and East Asia, with a popular Asian Games fun run in the Kingdom part of the build-up to the 18th Asian Games in Jakarta-Palembang Games in Indonesia this August.
“We previously hosted the regional forum in Siem Reap in March 2013, and we are honoured to be hosts again. We will soon decide whether to hold this event of great significance for the participating National Olympic Committees either in Phnom Penh or Siem Reap,” NOCC secretary-general Vath Chamroeun told The Post yesterday.
“The key areas of discussion will be the implementation of principles of good governance, autonomy, structure, programs and partnership with the private sector to develop sport and strengthen the Olympic Movement,” the NOCC’s top administrator said.
The International Olympic Committee’s presence at the forum, through representation by the Olympic Solidarity Commission, will be to highlight Olympic Solidarity programmes and assistance to National Olympic Committees and facilitate the process of exchanging knowledge and experience among them.
“Organising a forum of this size and significance is not an ord i na r y task, a nd t he fact t hat Ca mbodia has show n such orga n i sat iona l excellence is a clear pointer as to where t he f uture is heading for t he countr y.
We are only too pleased in the Olympic Council of Asia to extend all possible help in the Kingdom’s pursuit of the 2023 SEA Games,’’ said a leading member of the Olympic Council of Asia.
Sports celebrities invited
The main theme of the Fun Run Series is to publicise and celebrate across the continent the Asian Games, the largest mult i - d i s c i pl i ne s por t i ng event after the Olympics.
Cambodia wil l al s o be among the member nations organising fun runs nearing the 100-day countdown to the Asian Games opening on August 18.
According to NOCC, the run will be held away from Phnom Penh, either in Kandal or Kampong Cham province.
The first of the 31 runs planned by the Olympic Council of Asia took place in Pakistan in December, followed by Dhaka in Bangladesh, and in February similar runs were held in Dubai, Doha, Male and Beirut.
While the next stop for the fun run series this month is Anuradapura in Sri Lanka on Friday, on Sunday it will be in Kuala Lumpur, followed by Bac Ninh in Vietnam on March 11, Saudi Arabia on March 15 and Macau on March 25.
The NOCC has been advised by the Olympic Council of Asia to invite sports celebrities, Paralympic athletes and students to take part in the run, which could range from anywhere between 2km to 10km, with the possibility of organis- ing multiple runs based on age and athletic ability.
The country’s prime sports body is planning to design and produce its own fun run T-shirts for all participants.
T he Oly mpic Cou nci l of Asia will be awarding medals a nd cer t i f ic ates to t he top performers.
The NOCC online portal for registration will be opened soon.