Thu, 02 Mar 2000

Hasan strong candidate to chair AAAA

JAKARTA (JP): The ongoing chairman of the Asian Amateur Athletics Association (AAAA), Mohamad "Bob" Hasan, remains the strongest candidate to be elected in the association's congress in August.

AAAA secretary-general Maurice Nicholas told a media conference on Wednesday that Hasan was very helpful to other developing countries and supported AAAA in conducting its programs.

"There is no opponent for Mr. Hasan now or in the next presidential candidacy. We don't think anyone can replace him," he said.

Hasan, who is also the Indonesian Amateur Athletics Association (PASI) chairman, will end his tenure as the AAAA president in August.

The notification letters to AAAA's 43 country members will be sent on Monday. Each country is required to submit a nomination three months prior to the AAAA congress, as one of the items on its agenda is to elect a new president at the Jakarta Convention Center on Aug. 2.

Should Hasan be reelected as chairman of AAAA, he will equal the record of his predecessor, Seiko Yasuda of Japan, who also was the chairman for three consecutive terms.

President of the International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF) Lamine Diack of Senegal is scheduled to attend the congress and also to witness the Asian Athletics Championships from Aug. 3 to Aug. 6 at Senayan Madya stadium.

Nicholas said Indonesia was the only country which bid to host the event. After the deadline two years ago, Sri Lanka and Malaysia offered to host the event.

"Unfortunately, they were too late for the bidding. AAAA has decided Jakarta is the host for the championships. PASI has been organizing many championships for many years. It staged the Bob Hasan Invitational Meet and Asian Junior Championships several times. Indonesia is a good and experienced host," he said.

Nicholas assured the major countries in athletics, including China, Japan, South Korea, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, which have confirmed their participation in the events, to ignore the political situation in Indonesia.

"I don't know much about the political situation in Indonesia but so far everything is all right," he said.

PASI official in charge of organization and provincial chapters Kunarto said Hasan wanted to assure the international community that Indonesia was a peaceful country.

"We want them to see for themselves that Indonesia is safe and peaceful. Don't make foreigners afraid to visit Indonesia," he said.

AAAA has been surveying its members for the right time to host the championships.

"Most countries want the event to be staged one month prior to the Olympic Games in Sydney in September. Some countries, including China and Japan, have chartered flights to Sydney and athletes want to return home before going to Sydney," Nicholas said.

Speaking on athletics development, Nicholas said the general standard of athletics in Asia were increasing.

"But it's not easy to win gold medals because other continents' standards are also increasing," he said. (yan)