Qatar is getting a head start. Its National Olympic Committee (QOC) took advantage of the start of the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China (September 23 to October 8), to set a date for the 2030 edition of the continental multi-sport event, scheduled to take place in Doha. A reception was organized by QOC in the Chinese city. It was attended by over 500 guests, including all the Olympic leaders present in Hangzhou. These included, in no particular order of protocol, the Acting President of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), Randhir Singh, two IOC Vice-Presidents, Ng Ser Miang and Juan Antonio Samaranch, Jordanian Prince Feisal Al Hussein, a member of the Olympic body’s Executive Board, plus two other IOC members, Sweden’s Gunilla Lindberg and China’s Li Lingwei. Qatar has already hosted the Asian Games in Doha in 2006. The next edition is scheduled for 2026 in Nagoya, Japan. The next two, awarded in a single round by the OCA, will take place in the Gulf, in Doha in 2030, then in Riyadh four years later.
