THE Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) confirmed on Wednesday the new dates for the postponed sixth edition of the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games (AIMAG) in Thailand from November 17 to 26 in 2023.
This was confirmed by Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) President Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino, who earlier urged the House of Representatives and Senate to include the AIMAG as one of the budget priorities for 2022.
The AIMAG were originally scheduled for March 10 to 19, 2022, but the Thailand’s government and its national Olympic committee (NOC) sought for the postponement because of Covid-19 pandemic concerns.
“The OCA fully understands and respects the decision of the NOC of Thailand, Thailand AIMAG Organizing Committee and the Royal Thai government to postpone [the Games]…due to the Covid-19 global pandemic,” OCA acting president Raja Randhir Singh said in his letter to Thai NOC president Gen. Prawit Wongsuwon.
The AIMAG are staged every four years and for the sixth edition, the games will be hosted by Bangkok and Chonburi.
“The postponement would allow our athletes to be better prepared for the AIMAG, which ranks as one of the most important multi-sport competitions in the continent,” said Tolentino, who earler egged a 160-athlete delegation to the AIMAG who will compete in 21 of the 31 sports programmed by the Thai organizers.