Malaysia asks Indonesia to drop Asian Games bid

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN (JP): Malaysia has asked Indonesia to drop its bid to host the 2006 Asian Games for the sake of its own, saying the rivalry between them would undermine their hopes to host the event.

Malaysian Minister of Youth and Sports Tan Sri Dato Haji Muhyiddin told a news conference here on Sunday that national sports councils of both countries would hold talks to find the best solution to their conflicting interests.

"We are afraid that the two Southeast Asian countries will lose their bids. It's better if Indonesia support us this time around, and Malaysia will give full support to Indonesia's bid in the future," he said.

Muhyiddin dismissed the possibility of the two countries jointly holding the event.

"There would be serious logistical problems if the event was held in two different places."

He said that president of the Olympics Council of Asia, Sheikh Jabbar Ahmad Al-Sabah, had personally approved of Malaysia's bid regardless of the fact that another Southeast Asia country, Thailand, hosted the Asiad last year.

"The OCA doesn't name a hosting country based on region but on how prepared a bidding country is," he said.

Apart from the likelihood of Indonesia's bid, Malaysia will face a challenge from Hong Kong. India, Qatar, Syria, and Uzbekistan also have expressed their interests. OCA will announce the 2006 Asiad host in November.

Muhyiddin said Malaysia's success to finish second in the 20th Southeast Asian Games would motivate its athletes to reach new heights in the 2006 Asian Games if it was held on their home soil.

"We have always groomed our athletes who will compete in international events in a five-year training program, such as what we did prior to the 1998 Commonwealth Games which we hosted."

Malaysia spends 200 million ringgit for the long-term program which usually involves 3,000 athletes, according to Muhyiddin. Only 300 of them are eventually selected to the national team.

Success

Its success in hosting the Commonwealth Games encouraged Malaysia to pursue a bid for the Asian Games.

Muhyiddin said Kuala Lumpur would use sports facilities built for the Commonwealth Games in the Shah Alam Sports Complex to host the Asian Games.

"After successfully staging the 1998 Commonwealth Games, we believe we have all the facilities and infrastructure to host the Games," said Muhyiddin, who also chairs the 2001 Malaysia SEA Games organizing committee.

The complex has a 100,000-seat main stadium, 4,000-seat aquatic stadium and 5,000-seat indoor stadium. It also has a monorail train service from the complex to the downtown of Kuala Lumpur.

Malaysia plans to stage the Asiad in three locations: Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Johor Baru.

During the media conference, pictures of the complex, logo and the mascot of Cyber Alang, which symbolized Malaysia's readiness to face the millennium era, were displayed.

Muhyiddin said the bidding committee would organize a walk to invite Malaysians to support the bid.

"On Nov. 6, nearly two million people are expected to join the Walk for the Nation movement as their support for the bid," he said.

However, the minister declined to mention the budget to bid for the Asiad host.

"I can't mention the budget. We just try to be modest in costs because some Southeast Asian countries are still recovering from the economic crisis," he said. "The figure will be reasonable and not excessive."

Muhyiddin said if Malaysia won its Asian Games bid, the council and the government would consider bidding for the 2008 Olympic Games.

"We've learned from Seoul, which hosted the 1986 Asiad before hosting the 1988 Olympics. I hope we can follow in its footsteps," he said. (yan)