'Doha ready to host 2006 Asian Games'

The Jakarta Post, Busan, South Korea

The Qatari capital of Doha is ready to host the 15th Asian Games in 2006, using as examples the Busan 2002 Asiad and other major sporting events, according to a top official of the Doha Asian Games Organizing Committee (DAGOC).

However, DAGOC has yet to decide the number of sports and events that will be staged.

"We have not decided yet how many sports will be featured. But I can say about 33 sports will be played," DAGOC chairman Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani told reporters at the main press center in the Busan Expo and Convention Center (BEXCO) on Sunday.

Tamim underlined that Doha, though not a big city, had all the facilities needed for a large event such as the Asiad.

"Doha is big enough for a media center, accommodations for athletes, officials and the press, and stadiums," he said.

"We now have 44 stadiums in Qatar. Other facilities, including the training fields and other things, are under construction. All of these will be built by 2005."

Tamim said he could not give an exact figure for the budget needed to organize the 15th Asiad, only saying that the Qatari government had given its full backing to the organizing committee.

"I can't give you the exact budget. But our government is committed to build schools and sport facilities for the Asian Games," he said.

Qatar is the first Arabic country to host an Asiad, with most of the earlier events being hosted by Southeast and Eastern Asian countries. The only Middle Eastern country to have hosted an Asiad was Iran, with the Tehran 1974 Asiad.

As an Islamic country Qatar applies strict Islamic rules, but Tamim said there would be no problems for women athletes participating in the Doha Asiad.

"The women will be free to wear what they want to wear in accordance to IOC and OCA rules," said Tamim.

Meanwhile, DAGOC's information editor, Mubarak Omar Sa'eed, said that the Qatari government would relax its rules for women athletes during the 15th Asiad.

"We always respect our guests. So all women athletes will be free to wear their usual clothes although we are an Islamic country," he told ^The Jakarta Post^. "There is no problem at all."

On a lighter note, DAGOC is preparing a mascot for the Asiad based on one of its endemic animals, the oryx.

"We have yet to finalize the design although we already have the design outline," said Mubarak.

The mascot for the Busan Asiad was Duria the Seagull. The seagull is one of Busan's symbols.