SINGAPORE, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) — Now is the time for Asia to host main sporting occasions, because of the monetary stability and willingness of society within the area, World Aquatics president Husain Al-Musallam instructed Xinhua on Monday.
The 2025 World Aquatics Championships will probably be held in Singapore, World Aquatics introduced on Thursday. This signifies that the world’s premier worldwide aquatics occasion will probably be staged in Asian nations for 3 years in a row from 2023.
Japan’s Fukuoka will host the twentieth World Aquatics Championships in July this yr. This match was initially scheduled to be held in 2021 however was postponed twice as a result of COVID-19 pandemic and related journey restrictions.
The twenty first World Championships initially scheduled for summer season 2023 was then rescheduled to happen in Doha in February 2024.
“When you want to host an event, you definitely need financial stability, the platform of the market, the willingness of society and authorities to contribute, to support within society,” Al-Musallam instructed Xinhua.
“Now, it’s time for Asia, because of the economy. The impact is important as well as the market, the support from the authorities of the Asian countries to host international events.”
Al-Musallam talked about the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games, the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, and the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, in addition to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. “All these big events were held in Asia for the reasons I mentioned.”
But he added that when market stability and public assist for internet hosting sporting occasions comes again in different areas of the world, massive occasions “definitely will be going there”.
At the tip of final yr, aquatic sports activities’ worldwide governing physique additionally modified its identify from FINA to World Aquatics.
“The reason is very simple. It’s to unify the different six disciplines within the aquatic family together and make it become one,” mentioned Al-Musallam.
“FINA is related to swimming only in the French acronym, but aquatics is not only swimming, it’s about swimming, water polo, open swimming, diving, artistic swimming and high diving. We will find the whole family under one umbrella, united by water. Of course there will be positive impact for the organizing committee, making life easier for them in marketing.”
In latest years, World Aquatics has elevated the prize for its main occasions by a giant margin thanks to varied sponsorships. Al-Musallam mentioned that whereas rewarding elite athletes is a part of their technique, they’re truly allocating an even bigger funds to the event of the game.
“You cannot just focus on elite athletes but forget the pyramid,” he mentioned. “Our priority is that swimming can play an important role in ensuring the health of the society, and also to reduce the amount of drownings around the world. There are so many kids drowning in all parts of the world. So this is our vision, apart from taking care of elite athletes.”