The Asian Games are a multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from Asia, regulated by the Olympic Council of Asia. The inaugural Asian Games were held in 1951 in New Delhi, India. Since then, they have been hosted by 9 different nations every four years, with the most recent edition in 2010 in Guangzhou, China. The Games aim to promote mutual understanding between Asian countries through sport rather than violence after independence.

1. Play Games in the Spirit of Games
-- Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru
1951

2. Introduction
The Asian Games, officially known as Asiad, is a multi-
sport event held every four years among athletes from
all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian
Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New
Delhi, India, until the 1982 Games. Since the 1982 they
have been organized by the Olympic Council of
Asia (OCA), after the break up of the Asian Games
Federation. The Games are recognized by
the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and are
described as the second largest multi-sport event after
the Olympic Games.

4. In its history, only nine nations have
hosted the Asian Games. 46 nations
have participated in the Games,
including Israel, which was excluded
from the Games after their last
participation in 1974.

6. Asian Games Logo
Motto : Ever Onward
First Event :
1951 in Delhi, India
Occur every four
years
Last Event :
2010 in Guangzhou,
China
Purpose : Multi sport
event for nations on
the Asian continent

7. After World War II, a number of Asian countries became
independent. Many of the newly independent Asian
countries wanted to see a new type of competition where
Asian dominance would not be shown by violence but
would be strengthened by mutual understanding. During
the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, a conversation
between sportsmen from China and the Philippines raised
the idea of restoring the Far Eastern Games. However, the
Indian International Olympic Committee
representative Guru Dutt Sondhi thought that the
restoration of the Games would not be sufficient to show
the spirit of unity and level of achievement in Asian sports,

8. so proposed to sports leaders the idea of having
discussions about holding a wholly new competition —
the Asian Games. This gave rise to the agreement to form
the Asian Athletic Federation. A preparatory committee
was set up to draft the charter for this new body.
On 13 February 1949, the Asian Athletic Federation was
formally inaugurated in New Delhi, alongside the name
Asian Games Federation, with New Delhi announced
as the first host city of the Asian Games which were
scheduled to be held in 1950.

9. TEHRAN ASIAD - 1974

10. Participation
All 45 members affiliated to the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA)
are eligible to take part in the Games. In history, 46 National
Olympic Committees (NOCs) have sent competitors to the
Games. Israel has been excluded from the Games since 1976,
the reason cited as being due to security reasons. Israel
requested to participate in the 1982 Games, but the request was
rejected by the organizers due to incident in 1972 Summer
Olympics. Israel is now a member of the European Olympic
Committees (EOC).
Due to its continuing ambiguous political status, Taiwan has
participated in the Games under the flag of Chinese Taipei since
1990.

11. Participation – Cont….
Macau is allowed to compete as one of the NOCs in Asian
Games, despite not being recognized by the International
Olympic Committee (IOC) for participation in the Olympic
Games.
In 2007, the President of OCA, Sheikh Ahmed Al- Fahad Al-
Ahmed Al-Sabah, rejected the proposal to allow Australia to
participate in the Games. He stated that while Australia would
add good value to the Asian Games, it would be unfair to the
other NOCs in Oceania.
Only seven countries, namely India, Indonesia, Japan,
the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Singapore and Thailand have
competed in all editions of the games.

13. Sports
44 sports were presented in Asian Games history, including 2010
Games in Guangzhou.
Sport Years Aquatics since 1951 Archery since 1978 Athletics since 1951
Badminton since 1962 Baseball since 1994 Basketball since 1951 Board
games since 2006 Bodybuilding 2002–2006 Bowling 1978, 1986, since
1994 Boxing since 1954 Canoeing since 1986 Cricket 2010 Cue sports since
1998 Cycling 1951, since 1958 Dancesport2010 Dragon boat 2010
Equestrian 1982–1986, since 1994 Fencing 1974–1978, since 1986 Football
since 1951 Golf since 1982 Gymnastics since 1974 Handball since 1982
Sport Years Hockey since 1958 Judo since 1986 Kabaddi since 1990 Karate
since 1994 Modern pentathlon 1994, 2002, 2010 Roller sports 2010
Rowing since 1982 Rugby union since 1998 Sailing 1970, since 1978
Sepaktakraw since 1990 Shooting since 1954 Softball since 1990 Soft
tennis since 1990 Squash since 1998 Table tennis 1958–1966, since 1974
Taekwondo 1986, since 1994 Tennis 1958–1966, since 1974 Tiathlon since
2006 Volleyball since 1958 Weightlifting 1951–1958, since 1966 Wrestling
since 1954 Wushu since 1990

14. Asiad Postcard

15. Rank Country Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 China 199 119 98 416
2 Korea 76 65 91 232
3 Japan 48 74 94 216
4 Iran 20 14 25 59
5 Kazakhstan 18 23 38 79
6 India 14 17 33 64

16. The number of competition events is scheduled to
shrink down to just 35 sports at the 2014 Games
to be held in Incheon, South Korea. 2014 will also
see the last Games hosted in even-numbered year,
as the Olympic Council of Asia pushed the
subsequent Games to just one year ahead of the
Olympic Games. This means the 18th Asian Games
which were originally planned for 2018 will be
pushed to 2019.
LET THE GAMES WIN