Hasan strong candidate to chair AAAA

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)