No concerns over Doha village
The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) has approved the final arrangements of the Doha Asian Games Organising Committee (DAGOC) for the 15th Asian Games Doha 2006 starting in December.
“The OCA, in coordination with DAGOC, has ensured that all athletes and officials whose names have been forwarded by the respective National Olympic Committees will be accommodated at the Asian Games Village and there is no cause for concern in this regard,” OCA Secretary General Raja Randhir Singh said in a statement.
DAGOC earlier this month wrote to the relevant national Olympic councils and asked them to reduce their numbers of find alternative accommodation as the Athletes’ Village was mot capable of housing the final list of 13,600 athletes and officials registered for accreditation.
Once completed, the $500 million Asian Games Village will have a capacity of 10,300.
During the launch of the Torch relay in Doha on Oct 8, DAGOC Director-General Abdullah Khalid Al-Qahtani responded to questions on the subject by claiming that the committee was already surpassing the agreement it signed with the OCA to provide accommodation for 10,000 people.
“The size of the contingents does not mean that the entire number will be here throughout the duration of the games. Athletes will be coming and going based on their competition schedule, so the beds allocated will be enough. It’s all to do with management,” he had stressed.