Seoul:<Text>
With Saudi Arabia reportedly falling behind on its preparations to host the 2029 Asian Winter Games, the continent's top sports body is gauging South Korea's interest in becoming an alternate host, a source familiar with the matter said Friday.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) asked Korean Sport and Olympic Committee (KSOC) President Ryu Seung-min if South Korea would be willing to step in for Saudi Arabia. The conversation took place late last month in Singapore on the sidelines of the World Aquatics Championships, where Ryu met with Sheikh Joaan Bin Hamad Al Thani, head of the Qatar Olympic Committee and sole candidate for the OCA presidency, and OCA Director General Husain Al Musallam, who is also head of the World Aquatics.
Following the meeting, the OCA also sent an official letter to the KSOC. Ryu told OCA officials that he would discuss the matter with the South Korean government and then shared the detail s of his meeting with officials at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism after returning home, according to the source.
Neom, a planned city being built in Saudi Arabia, was selected as the host of the 2029 Asian Winter Games in October 2022. It would be the first winter multisport competition held in the Middle East. However, the Financial Times reported Thursday that the construction of a ski resort was dealing with engineering and logistical challenges and the project would not be completed in time without a significant bump in the budget. Saudi Arabia has yet to confirm it will give up its rights to host the 2029 Asian Winter Games.
There have been nine editions of the Asian Winter Games, most recently in February this year in Harbin, China. They have been held sporadically, rather than quadrennially like the summer version, because of difficulty finding suitable hosts. Japan has held four Asian Winter Games and China has had three, with one each by South Korea in 1999 and Kazakhstan in 2011. After Kazakhstan, Japan's Sapporo hosted the next edition six years later. Then it was followed by an eight-year gap.
South Korea has winter sports facilities already in place to hold an Asian Winter Games on short notice. It staged the Winter Youth Olympics in early 2024, using mostly the same venues built for the 2018 Winter Olympics in the eastern province of Gangwon.