OCA Rejects Indian Request to Extend 2019 Asian Games Bid Deadline

The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) has rejected a request from the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to give them more time to bid for the 2019 Asian Games.

The IOA missed the July 1 deadline and requested that the OCA waited until July 15, whilst talks continued with the government over financing the bid for New Dehli to host the Games.

However, the Business Standard newspaper published a letter from OCA Director General Husain Al Musallam that read: “I regret to inform you that due to the extreme shortage of time, it is impossible for the OCA to extend the deadline any further.

“Within this two month period we need to establish the evaluation team that will visit the bidding cities and submit its report to the OCA Executive Board on September 19.

“However, if you are able to still submit the guarantees within the next couple of days, OCA is willing to consider IOA’s bid very positively.”

The IOA had asked for a 15 day extension to allow them to submit their bid to replace Hanoi, Vietnam, who pulled out due to financial constraints.

India will only need to construct two indoor stadiums because of the infrastructure in place for the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

Indonesia is seen as the favourite to replace Hanoi.